Black Magic
by starwarswiz
Summary: Nico had been alone for as long as he cared to remember. Then, as if out of nowhere, his life changes. A certain someone tries to open his world just a small amount, while everything he knew is thrown upside down with him in the middle. Throughout his entire life all he ever wanted was peace and quiet.
1. Chapter 1

He walked into the building slowly, dragging his feet and dreading the day ahead of him. How he hated being here more than anything else, well not more than he hated himself, but that was without speaking. Once he reached his locker he threw his bag in and picked the few books he needed for class and then made his way to first. Once inside he sat in the back and promptly stared at the desk in front of him. Everything in his being said to leave and not come back, but he had already tried that before and it didn't end well. Then they came in.

Probably the weirdest group of friends he had ever seen in the school. Normally everyone belonged to the little stereotype, nerds, jocks, cheerleaders, and so on. These kids, they were all different and Nico thought they were all crazy, but what did he know. The most prominent of that group had to be Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Percy was captain of the swim team, gave swim lessons to young kids, and was generally the nicest person on the planet. Annabeth was his girlfriend of a few years. She was president of the student council, most academically achieved person in the school, ran the drama production, debate team, and was a cheerleader.

Those two had to be the best people the school has ever seen. That's not where it ended though. Jason Grace, quarterback and captain of the football team, ran track, VP of student council, and perhaps one of the most outspoken people ever. His girlfriend Piper was head cheerleader, lead in every school play, and helped with the guidance counselors when it came to discrimination considering she was native American. Leo Valdez, ran a workshop of his own and helped start up the robotics and engineering clubs at the school a year ago, and was the most spastic person ever. Then there was Hazel, his half-sister, which he never talked to, she was not as achieved as the others but was a cheerleader and helped Piper with the equality whenever she could.

He himself simply dealt with all her success and then there was her friend that she was crushing on but could never work up the nerve to ask out, Frank Zhang. He was huge, was the best wrestler in the state, and refused to play any other sport. He seemed huge and intimidating but from what he had seen he was a big softy on the inside. Then came the people Nico knew very little about, first was Reyna. All he knew was she was from Puerto Rico, was a mean basketball and softball player, and rooted out any type of bullying she could find. Last was Will Solace. All Nico knew was he was tall, blonde, had blue eyes, and was from Texas.

Not knowing things pissed Nico off to know end, but he refused to ask anyone anything about him. They all came from across the board and basically ruled the school, which made it a hell of a nice place to be. Well, considering they were in the outskirts of New York it was a blessing to have such a nice place. However, Nico hated just as much as he hated his home life but he hated just about everything. Nico looked at the clock and he had another five minutes to go and so he put his head down and waited for the bell to ring so he could pay attention. Not that he needed to, he had learned all this information years ago, perks of having a photographic memory.

But, his mother wanted him to have an actual high school experience so he had to stay here and barrel through it all. Most teachers knew about him and let him do mostly whatever he wanted, if he didn't disrupt class. He liked that at least, or until he got called down to the guidance's office and had to have sit down with some professional. Usually they just tested his memory and asked basic questions and he could leave. Hazel had tried to help him with the group her and Piper ran but Nico shot them down every time. He generally kept to himself but every now and then someone would mess with him. Usually it left him with bruises but he just worked through it.

He never called Reyna or anyone to help because he didn't want their help. He was more than capable of taking care of himself. The bell rang and Nico brought his head up for the morning announcement and attendance. Nothing new was in them, just the next swim meet or basketball game. His teacher, Mr. Brunner, talked softly beginning the lecture. Nico liked him as he didn't treat Nico differently like the other teachers did. He would ask him a question now and then to make sure he knew what was happening. Not that it made a difference, and he had him for only this class. Once out of here, he would be looked at like he was a freak of nature.

He looked around the room bored and noticed two sleeping and another barely awake, which he could understand. Mr. Brunner, or Chiron he insisted being called, wasn't the most energetic but he was the only one who would mix up things with a reenactment, or some other engaging activity that lifted his spirits. He continued to scan the room and saw something odd, he would catch either Percy, Will, or Annabeth look at him quickly. He just shoved that aside as he was staring at them which probably made them uncomfortable.

So, he just turned his attention to the outside and he could see a few flakes falling in the dim light of the morning. They hadn't gotten and actual snow storm yet but if the flakes were anything to indicate, one was close. He liked the cold and snow, something pure and innocent, but is very dangerous if you aren't careful. He always thought he could be like that one day and then maybe they would stop picking on him but that was just a fantasy. Before Nico knew it, the bell had rung and he was one of the first out the door.

He liked that his locker was so close to his first period, so he didn't have to worry about being late. He noticed Percy and Annabeth came out last and Annabeth gave him a side glance before walking down the hall with Percy. Nico found it odd but pushed it away, because he had to hurry. This was the time of day that his tormentors would come around and begin the routine. Usually it was either Ethan Nakamura, or Octavian who messed with him but that wasn't always the case. There was and few others who joined in every now and then but those two seemed to enjoy it more than others.

Just as Nico thought he would miss it, his locker was slammed closed and he was cornered by Octavian and Ethan. Today would suck.

"How are you today, fag?" Octavian asked.

"Piss off." Nico said.

"Let me think about that. No." Octavian mocked.

Before Nico could respond the breath was knocked out of him but a punch to the gut by Ethan. Nico fell to the ground and coughed trying to get some air back.

"Not so snarky, now are we?" Ethan said.

He followed with a quick kick and Nico was now on his side and in a lot of pain. They just kept kicking him over and over, and eventually Nico saw he coughed up a bit of blood. The bell rang and they left then, not wanting to be late to class. Nico just decided to lay there and wait until he felt good enough to walk before trying to get to class. That plan was shot to hell when someone walked down the hallway and saw him.

"Nico?!" they yelled.

His vision was blurry and he supposed he was going to blackout soon. The person was talking to him but he couldn't hear them let alone make a coherent sentence. He felt himself being picked up and then he saw a black screen. He eventually came to and felt as if he had been hit by a car. His stomach ached and his head was pounding. He was lying down, that much he could tell. He slowly sat up and could tell he was still at school which meant not much time had passed. He swung his legs over and he was about ready to leave when someone walked in.

"Whoa, you're awake!" they said.

"No shit Sherlock." He snapped.

"Well sorry for helping you."

Nico looked up and it was none other than Will Solace himself. He had on a stupid grin and stood completely relaxed. Nico's stomach did a flip and he cursed himself for getting this way. He wouldn't form any attachments to anyone, ever again.

"Well, whatever I'm leaving." Nico hopped down.

"Oh, no you're not! You got beat up pretty bad." Will grabbed his arm.

Nico hissed and yanked it away and gave him a hard glare. Nico didn't say anything, he simply grabbed his bag and ran out before Will could stop him. He didn't want to talk to him, or anyone for that matter. He had dealt with this before without help and he could do it again. He managed to find a little hiding place for himself in the bleachers in the gym and he was lucky for it. For only a few seconds later Will ran in and looked around. Jason walked out of the locker room and Will called out to him.

"Hey, Jase did you see Nico run in here?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well he passed out and it turns out someone beat him up. When he woke up he simply stormed out before I could catch him."

"Can't say I've seen him but I'll keep an eye out. You know we have to be careful, he hasn't shown any signs yet so we can't expose anything."

What were they talking about?

"I know, it's just hard to sit by and watch this happen."

"I never said you have sit by, just don't give anything away."

Will nodded and they both left the gym, and most likely they would both be looking for him now. But, Nico was lost, what could they not reveal to him and what signs had he not shown? No one ever watched him as far as he knew, and he tried to avoid people. He'd figure it out later as he had Calculus to get to. The clock showed almost the end of second so he was out for maybe half an hour, maybe a little more. He just hoped that was all they were going to try today.

If they were in a bad mood, he would receive a double dosage or sometimes even a triple. Usually it was only once a couple days or so that they would be bored enough to do anything. Nico moved back to his locker quietly, and grabbed his books as the bell rang. He quickly rushed to the class, sat in the back, and slumped down in his seat. Luckily Will nor Jason were in this class and he doubted the had told anyone of their friends yet. The only one of the group in this class was Annabeth, and he knew for a fact that she came from the other side of the building before this class.

The second bell rang and he saw Annabeth walk in, calm collected and sit right next to him. He couldn't have felt more awkward at that moment. She always sat in the front and by some of her cheerleading friends. Not once had she done anything like this before. His mind was put at ease when the teacher walked in and the class' attention switched to the front. He tried to not notice her sitting there and she didn't say anything or hint at his existence. She made it seem as if she had always done this and nothing was wrong. When the bell rang, she was the first one out, and didn't even say a word to him, but she didn't need to.

Nico sighed to himself and made his was to his next class which was history. Probably his least favorite subject. He had and photographic memory and the entire class was simply memorization. Most of the time he slept, unless there was quiz or test which he always got and perfect score on. However, in this class he had Jason, Percy, and Leo which meant class was going to be either entertaining or extremely annoying. When he sat down, he sat in the back as usual, and waited. The trio walked in and made people start to whisper to each other. As Annabeth sat next to him, these three sat around him, almost as if he needed protecting.

He huffed, and ignored everyone and put his head down just wanting it to be lunch already. This day was beginning to shape up to be one of the worst in a long time. He brought his head to rest on his arms and opened the one notebook he had. He never wrote anything down as he could never forget it, but this notebook was covered in his art. Well he called them doodles and it was always of things he dreamed of. Either it was a three-headed dog, or a half man half goat. He didn't know where he had the memories to dream them but what did he know about dreams. They were something no one would likely ever understand. He liked the doodles though, it showed that somewhere his mind still got to enjoy something.

He looked at the latest of his drawings. It was of him wearing some fighting robes, with a black sword standing at the edge of a cliff. He thought the clothing was fitting and the sword seemed cool, but he had no idea where it came from. He saw Percy glance at his notebook and tense slightly but then relaxed just as quickly. Nico thought it strange, but then he would have to say everything about life is strange and he didn't want that kind of headache. The teacher droned on and on about some point in history that Nico had probably learned years ago, and didn't care to learn again.

He saw many either asleep or texting under their desks, and unfortunately this teacher never paid any attention to the class while lecturing. Well unless it was something he did, as with some of the teachers here no matter what he did or how small of an error he was there was always a scolding. Now, if it was not paying attention in class he would usually shut the teacher up on the next test and never get bothered again. But, if it was him accidentally dropping something or doing something too loudly, like tap his pencil, he would get yelled at. He always thought that most of the teachers had a huge stick up their ass.

Nico really didn't care all that much, he was only here because his mother wanted him to be here. He always listened to her, and too his sister, and that is where he stopped that train of thought. He sat there making simple lines of the page waiting for the bell and then he could escape to lunch and have some peace for once. Much to his liking, the bell did ring and he was out of the class as fast as he could. He shoved his books away in his locker, grabbed his lunch, and made his way to the lunch room. He always sat at the same table, in the back, by himself. It was very peaceful and he enjoyed the quiet, from the craziness of the halls and classrooms.

"Hey, are you alright?" someone asked.

There went his peaceful lunch.

"What's it to you?" he turned.

Will stood before him, "Well you kind of ran off and I couldn't find you."

"I'm fine now go away." The butterflies in Nico's stomach began to work in overdrive.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, now go." Nico growled.

Will looked disappointed, but left and went over to join his friends. Nico didn't need someone to worry about him every single moment of the day. Nico could see Will talk to them and then several of them look over at him. He glared back and they simply avoided eye contact. Nico didn't get what had Will so worked up but it didn't matter. He could care less about Will and his problems, as no one cared about his. He simply ate in silence and enjoyed what little time he had to himself. He watched others talk animatedly with each other, some laughed, others simply just listened. Nico took it all in, but he always avoided one table.

Octavian's table included all of those who enjoyed to mess with him, tease him, and beat him up. Octavian was the ring leader and all those around him were like sheep to a shepherd. Nico hated all of them the most out of everyone in the entire school. Most people would say that hatred isn't a good thing to have in large quantities, but at this point in his life he didn't care. Nico went back to his meal and sat there quietly, until he was scared to end when someone slammed a hand down on the table.

Before him stood Hazel, who looked extremely concerned, and Reyna who looked extremely mad, which was normal.

"What?" he demanded.

"Nico, Will told us he found you earlier today all hurt and on the floor." Hazel said.

"That was just a fluke and it should never have happened, and you have nothing to worry about." He said evenly.

"I doubt that very much di Angelo. Now most likely it was a result of bullying and because I don't tolerate that kind of thing at this school I need to know now." Reyna said.

"Oh, you care so much don't you," Nico said sarcastically, "It must pain you to have to stoop so low to fix stuff like this. So why don't you take your arrogant ass and leave me the hell alone."

"Nico!" Hazel yelled.

Reyna held up a hand, "No, no, if he doesn't want help then I can't force it upon him. However, if this happens again I will help, no matter what you say."

"Just leave." He said.

Reyna left quickly but Hazel looked back sadly and Nico avoided her gaze and went back to his meal. When Nico looked up he saw not only Will look at him, but he saw Octavian glaring daggers at him. Nico then knew he would be getting another meeting with him before the day was out. Nico sighed and hoped that it would be right after lunch so he could just get it over with and get on with the day.

When lunch ended, Nico walked slowly back to his locker, not wanting to face the rest of the day. As he had hoped Octavian was waiting at his locker, and he even let Nico get his things when he saw he wasn't planning on running.

"Nico, Nico, Nico. You seem to be getting some unusual attention, should I be worried?"

"No, I told them to fuck off. Now can we please get this over with so I can get on with my day." Nico said.

"Well if you insist."

Octavian punched him square across the jaw then followed up with another to the stomach and Nico was on his knees. Octavian shoved him down with his foot and smiled down at him. Bringing his foot back, Nico readied for another round of kicks that might do some real damage for once.

"Repellendum!" someone yelled.

Octavian went flying into the nearby wall and looked up angrier than ever at whoever interfered with his fun. However, his face quickly changed to fear and he ran. Nico looked over to see Will and Reyna looking down at him. He had no idea how they got Octavian off him so easily, but he supposed it was because Reyna was terrifying and Will was much bigger than he was.

"I told you next time this happened I would help you whether you liked it or not." Reyna said.

Nico got to his hands and knees and grabbed his books. He used the wall to slowly stand up, and he made sure that neither of them touched him. He stared at both hoping they would just go away, but Nico had no such luck. Will looked extremely concerned and Nico then thought of a way to get out of this situation.

"If I go to the nurse's office, will you then leave me alone?" he asked.

"If you insist." Reyna said.

Will looked like he wanted to protest, but Reyna gave him a look and he slumped. Nico, for some odd reason felt bad for him. He had no idea why, he had never felt bad for anyone in his entire life, let alone Will Solace. He knew next to nothing about the guy and here he was, wanting to apologize and seeing what he could do to make him happy and cheerful again. Nico hated that, he had always denied that part of his life, and himself.

He trudged behind Will and Will seemed to have a bounce in his step. It annoyed Nico that he was always so cheerful and full of energy. There was no possible way for someone to always have that energy and enthusiasm. They both entered the office and Will sat Nico down on one of the couches and quickly went around and grabbed various items from the place.

"How do you know where everything is?" Nico asked.

"Oh, I help out here every now and then." Will responded.

"That's not weird at all." Nico said sarcastically.

"Ha, I suppose it is."

Nico grumbled but sat there and waited. Once Will seemed to be satisfied with what he had he walked over and kneeled in front of him. Nico simply let him work, no matter how much he hated being touched. He managed to keep his temper down for a few minutes before Will decided to try and lift his shirt up.

"No!" Nico yelled.

He yanked his shirt down and held it there and Will looked surprised there for a second but then calmed and smiled again.

"Nico, I need you to lift it if I'm going to help." He said.

"I never agreed to you doing that. I don't want anyone touching me, but I dealt with it. Trying to get my shirt off is crossing the line and I'm done."

Nico stood grabbed his books and stormed out. Will was saying something behind him, but he didn't care. All he wanted to do is to go hide and not face anyone for the rest of the day, which wasn't long. He shoved opened the doors and went out to the trees in the lawn. He found one reasonably far away and sat under it and just fumed.

He wouldn't allow himself to cry as he wasn't that weak, and he shouldn't be crying over something so trivial. He sat there and looked up at the sky and simply let time roll past him. He didn't want to go home as there was nothing for him, and he didn't want to go back in and face all those people in there. He looked over the books he had and realized he had left his coat inside his locker, and it was freezing outside. He grumbled and simply crossed his arms close and dealt with the cold. It was not as if anyone would ever notice him or even care about him.

"Nico!" someone yelled.

He froze and waited, thinking someone was going to talk to him. He didn't hear anyone running up to him so he relaxed and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing out here?"

He jumped surprised by whoever was here and cursed himself for letting himself being caught.

"Why do you care?" he noticed it was Hazel.

"Because Nico you just can't do this to yourself."

"Yes, I can. You can go tell on me to your friends but that won't change anything. I don't care if they want to help or not I am more than capable of taking care of myself!" he yelled.

Hazel looked shocked and sad by the way Nico had spoken and he did admit it was much harsher than it needed to be, but if that was what it took for them to leave him alone then it was worth it. She quickly turned and left without saying another word, and Nico sank further into the cold ground. His hands were beginning to lose some feeling but he didn't care. He felt a single tear somehow make it down his face and that made him stand up and go back into the building.

He didn't even try and attend class, for at this point he didn't care, and it was not like anyone would notice he was gone. Some teachers may even be relieved that he wasn't there. He simply got his jacket and bag from his locker, slammed it shut, and began the long walk home. Most likely his father wasn't there and that was a plus for him. The less he had to deal with for the rest of the day the better.

 **So this is an idea I've had bouncing around my head for a good while now, and I decided to give it a beta test. So let me know what you think, and if there should be any fixes or changes made or if you have ideas let me know. Or you can just simply enjoy the story, whatever you want. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	2. Chapter 2

That very next day, as Nico walked through the doors he could see people looking at him and whispering nonsense to one of their friends. How he hated gossip, especially when it pertained to him. Usually the gossip was false and no one ever dared to ask him if it was true or not, and he supposed it was his fault for causing that. His personality didn't scream come and talk to me. He just ignored it most of the time, unless he caught on to what was being said and that's when he could put a stop to it.

He just kept walking and started his daily routine with his locker. He was one of the few people who took the time to decorate the inside of his locker, with a few pictures. One of his mother and him when he was little, Bianca, and a few others like a Game of Thrones sticker or a Twenty-One Pilots logo on a magnet. It wasn't much but he found solace in the tiny things he could do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out headphones which he remembered to bring to school. Usually he forgot them, and hated it when he wanted to drone out whatever other people were saying.

Once his headphones were on he blasted the music, grabs his books, and began to make his way to class for yet another boring day. Occasionally he would see someone staring at him, and he would glare at them breaking the eye contact. For once his day started off better than others. Once in his class he sat in his usual place and then waited for the bell to ring, and the class to be over with. That's when they walked in and ruined everything.

The whole gang simply walked in as if nothing was wrong, made their way to the back towards him and made a protective bubble around him. He found it extremely unnerving and the others in the class began to talk vehemently with those around them. He felt someone tap him a looked over to see none other than Will motioning for him to take his headphones out.

"Piss off." He said.

"Nico, I need to talk to you."

"I said, piss off."

"Not until you talk to me." Wil demanded.

"Do you not understand English? I said piss off."

"Oh, understand it just fine, I'm just incredibly stubborn." Will smiled.

"Incazzare cazzo stronzo." Nico muttered.

"Ok, that I don't understand. I only know English and some Spanish, and even that is limited."

"How do you know Spanish?"

"I use to live in Texas, you tend to pick up a few things." He smiled again.

"Perche io."

"What?" Will asked.

"Nothing."

"Two can play at that game. Tu hermana es muy preocupado para tu. Es muy intersante escuchar todas sus historias sobre ti."

Nico looked at him utterly confused at what Will had just said. He picked up on a few words and knew he was talking about him and Hazel but that was about it. Will looked very pleased with himself and turned his attention to the front as Chiron walked in. He noticed the change in seating and said nothing of it, which was unusual. He usually questioned someone before they could move seats.

It was very strange but he put it aside as the announcements came on. He took the other headphone out and thought that he might as well listen. It would be something to keep his mind off Will, who kept looking at him every few seconds.

"Good morning students, today's announcements have been amended. As you know the school has a strict no bullying policy. Recent events have come to the faculty's attention that that rule is not being upheld by certain students. We will keep those individuals anonymous, but the new punishments are as followed. One offense will result in one week's detention and a notification to one's parents. A second offense will result in a three-week suspension from the school and a notification sent to the police. A third offense shall result in an immediate expulsion from the school and an official police report will be written.

There is one exception, should any of these offences be a result of physical violence the offender will be immediately expelled and turned over to police custody. The full extent of the law will then be dealt upon the offender form which a multitude of results could occur. I encourage other students to vigilant and inform Reyna Ramírez-Arellano immediately. Also, a meeting will occur twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday for any students who have been bullied and wish to discuss it without fear of repercussions.

Any questions or concerns can be asked of your teachers at any time as they have been given all necessary information on the matter. Thank you and have a nice day."

The regular announcements came on but Nico was too distracted to pay attention to them. He even didn't notice Will poking him to get his attention. All he could think that it was because of him that this was happening and he feared what might happened to him should he run into Octavian or any of his friends. He could only imagine what they would do to him, and they would no doubt blame him for the new rules.

Nico just ignored the rest of the class, and moved on to the next one as if he was a puppet. All he could focus on was what was waiting for him at some time later during the day. He managed to get to his locker and to the next class without incident which wasn't surprising. Octavian would never be so arrogant to try something that out in the open, he would wait for lunch, or even after school had let out to try anything. Nico would just have to be extra careful when he left the building at the end of the day.

When he sat down in his next class he looked out the window and saw the snow gently falling onto the ground. Just as he had predicted there was a fine layer of snow on the ground from the day before and there was more on the way, if the weather was predicted correctly. He thought it was fitting that a snow storm would hit, especially with the dreaded winter dance coming up. Soon the extravagant displays of affection would litter the school.

Nico had yet to go to a single dance, which the school started off early with one in sixth grade. He never bothered to ask someone as he would get a no, and no one had dared to ask him. He wondered if Will had ever gone, and if so who did he go with. Will didn't have any friends outside of the group as far as Nico knew. He couldn't imagine someone like Will not going to one of them, especially with his happy, positive attitude. Nico quickly shut that train of thought down, not understanding how he had gotten there. He would never go down that path again, it had already caused him enough heartache to last a lifetime.

When the bell rang, Nico actually jumped not expecting it even though there is literally only five minutes in between each class. He was spared the wall of people he had somehow acquired as none of them were in this class, so there was another bright side to this relatively shitty day. The teacher droned on about something Nico either knew, or didn't care to learn now and most likely it was the first one. He watched as others occasionally look back at him, as if he wouldn't notice. This was starting to get rather annoying as he had no idea what they were talking about, and thus no way of stopping all the attention he was getting. He noticed one didn't show signs or curiosity, just simple hatred towards him.

He recognized her as Khione, a cheerleader and all around annoying girl. She was known for dating as many guys, just to sleep with them then break up the next day. As far as Nico knew no one had denied her for some reason, all except Percy. She hadn't gotten around to Jason, Leo, Frank, or Will because Percy wouldn't give her what she wanted. She never even thought of trying to seduce Nico, as he would never go for a girl. He didn't like girls in that regard, and that spared him a lot of embarrassment at trying to stave off Khione, if she would ever try.

Nico assumed Percy hadn't given in because of Annabeth, but the way Khione acted and talked, it was weird. She could literally get guys who were standing next to their girlfriends to do whatever she wanted with just the wave of the hand or the right words. Nico didn't understand how, and he didn't want to find out how she did it. He also didn't get her sudden hatred towards him, as he had never done anything to her. He supposed that whatever was being talked about him behind his back, it was enough to make her mad at him.

The bell rang and Nico continued his routine with not a single hitch in his step. The fact that this was happening was crazy enough as it is, but to have gossip on top of that, it was like he had won the lottery. Calculus was quiet when he entered and he saw that Annabeth had beaten him hear and was in the same seat as the day before, only she looked at him expectantly. He sighed and made his way back and plopped into the chair dreading what would come next.

"You hurt Will's feelings." She said.

"How could I possibly hurt Will?" he looked at her.

"He cares about people, and he cannot sit by when someone is hurting."

Nico grabbed the desk, "Well he can mind his own damn business."

"Act like that and he won't"

He glared darkly at her, "Yeah, like that will stop me, try again."

"He just wants to help."

"I don't need help."

Annabeth looked flustered for a second but then nodded and turned her attention to her notebook. She began to write furiously and Nico had to wonder what about. She didn't seem mad at him, or at anyone really. Nico had seen her frustrated, but never truly mad. Once she was done writing she quickly shut her book and then looked at him. He quickly averted his attention back to the front and waited for her to give the sign.

"Will wants to talk to you at lunch." She spoke after a while.

"Only Will?"

"Yes, don't worry the rest of us will leave you alone."

"Good."

She huffed at that but said no more and turned her attention to the lecture as it began. Nico realized in the class that that had been the first time he had ever spoken to Annabeth. He has known her since second grade and had never spoken to her until now. This day just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder as it went on. He supposed that it was just one of those days and that it would pass over soon enough. Once the class was over he noticed Annabeth had left a nicely folded piece of paper on her desk, and before Nico could call her back she was out of the room.

Nico picked the piece up and saw it was an origami piece, and it was very well done. It was the shape of an owl, and he supposed it was Annabeth's favorite animal. He then noticed writing all over the paper and carefully undid the owl to the flat sheet.

 _Nico,_

 _If you ever need help or want to talk about anything, all you have to do is ask. It doesn't have to be Will or Percy, it can just be me. I will never tell anyone anything if you don't want me to. I'm here for you if you ever need it, and the gossip you see in school is about you supposedly having sex with Jason in the locker room yesterday, thought you might like to know._

 _Annabeth_

Nico read the page over three times and each time he got more and more embarrassed. He didn't care about how Annabeth would listen, he was more concerned about the supposed sex with Jason. The only time he saw Jason was in the gym yesterday after he ran from Will. Someone must have seen Jason go in, then Nico and neither one of them came out until at least five minutes later. He wondered how Will factored in since he came in about two minutes after Nico did and then left with Jason.

He supposed it could have been worse, and he had no idea who had started it, so he guessed he would have to weather the storm. He had had stories like these float around him for years, and he supposed after all this time that meant he was the only virgin in the entire school. He knew that that was statistically impossible for that to be true, but there were always exceptions. That made him wonder what Jason thought of the situation, if he was shutting it down or letting it run its course until someone asked him if it was true. Nico liked to think it was the first one, but with his luck it would be the latter.

Nico collected himself and made his way to the next class and then after that he would bet a break at lunch, and that's when he realized that Jason was in his next class, along with Leo and Percy. Most likely he would die of embarrassment, but he supposed there was no avoiding it. Once he got in the room he made his way to his normal seat, and saw that everyone was watching him make his way there. He simply held his head high and ignored their stares, and he then figured out why Khione was giving him that look. Jason was still on her hit list and he supposed that this story ruined her chances, but he was still dating Piper.

That just made the story all that more confusing, as he hadn't heard of them breaking up, or even arguing for that matter. Which was extremely suspicious in Nico's opinion. That's when they walked in. The room went silent and Nico directed his attention to his hands in his lap and refused to look up. He hoped they would sit where they normally did and not even talk to him, as it would just make his day even worse. Unfortunately, they did the exact opposite, sitting next to him and Percy trying to get his attention.

"Nico." Percy said.

"Piss off."

"You say that to everyone, and I need to talk to you."

"Non voglio parlare." He switched into Italian.

"I'm taking that as a yes. I'm assuming Annabeth talked to you earlier."

"Yes."

"Good, makes my job easier. Juist so you know it wasn't any of us that started the rumor and Jason is going to put a stop to it so you don't have to worry."

"Whatever, just leave me alone after this is all over."

"I don't think that's going to work."

"Why, the, hell, not?"

"Um, Hazel asked to keep an eye on you." Percy scratched the back of his head.

Nico got extremely angry at that instant and a flash of fear went through Percy. It suddenly felt a whole twenty degrees colder and Nico got an extremely calm look.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me, now let off or I will make you."

Percy held his hands up and looked over to Jason and Leo, giving them a knowing look. He would hear about this later from Hazel no doubt, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to be left alone, and life at this moment did not want to give him that pleasure. Thankfully they ignored him for the rest of the class and he left as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, his small reprieve was ended by Octavian waiting for him at his locker. He didn't see Nico approach as he was looking at his hands, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Um, can I help you?" Nico said when he approached.

"About time you got here faggot. I would hate to be disappointed. You and I have a few things we need to talk about." Octavian smiled.

"I'm all ears."

Octavian grabbed the front of his shirt, "I don't know who told, but I know it came from you somehow. Since you've made my life that much harder, I'm going to make yours a living hell, just you wait."

He was shoved roughly against the lockers and Nico grunted from the pain. Octavian walked off and Nico watched him go, just to make sure he wouldn't be blindsided. Once he was out of sight, Nico sighed and leaned back against the lockers now realizing how nervous he was. He pushed the thought of Octavian away and got ready for his next class, which once again he had all to himself and he wouldn't have to deal with Will, or Percy, or anyone.

However, when he walked into the room it became extremely quiet. All attention was on him as if he was some sort of superstar, but he knew the real reason. There were perhaps two openly gay students in the entire district that he knew of, and the fact that people now thought he was as well, it pissed him off. He glared at all of them and they went back to their conversations but that didn't stop the quick gazes he got every now and then. All he wished for now, was that he could leave and go home and to never have to deal with any of them.

He knew his wish would go unanswered, as did the rest of his pleas in life. He sat down and opened his notebook and looked through the various drawings and worked on a few, while the teacher droned on and on. Nico always used this time to observe others and listened to their conversations and learn. This was how he survived so long with how Octavian treated him. He knew some much dirt about almost everyone in the school, only Octavian would dare mess with him. With his memory, he would also never forget it, so no matter how much people could try he would always remember.

Nico noticed that most of the room had begun to talk with each other, and he looked up. He saw the teacher talking with Chiron and as to why, he had no idea. The teacher nodded and then looked over at him and motioned him up to the front. He knew that this would only make the gossip about him even worse having two teachers talk about him and him getting a private conversation with Chiron. Chiron was always viewed as the one who laid down the law to students, despite being in a wheelchair.

Once Nico was up at the front Chiron steered him out of the room and into an empty hallway. He shut the door behind him and Nico's nerves began to rise.

"Calm down, you're not in trouble. However, we do need to talk Mr. di Angelo." He said.

"Well, what about?" Nico responded quietly.

"There has been some talk of rather explicit activities between you and Mr. Grace. I've also heard rumblings of actual physical violence to your person."

"And?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"Are they true?"

"The Jason thing, no, I have no idea who started that. But the bullying thing, who cares if its real or not."

"There are some who care about you all, and there are those, mainly Hazel, who is concerned."

"Well, she doesn't need to worry as its nothing I can't handle." He sighed.

"So, it is true, and that means there needs to be action, more than what the administration has done so far."

Nico's temper began to rise, "I don't need your or anyone else's help. I've been more then capable of taking care of myself for years. You don't have the right after so many years to suddenly appear and start messing with my life. If anyone wanted to do that, they should have stopped my mother and sister from dying, or my dad from walking out on me!"

The hallway was extremely cold suddenly and Nico's temper was flaring and he hadn't gotten this mad in years. Chiron just looked at him with a blank stare, as if nothing was wrong or he didn't care and Nico chose to believe the latter.

"What? Not going to say anything? You just don't care, I see. No one has ever cared, and I don't need anyone to."

He stormed off not waiting for Chiron to respond. He didn't know where he was going but he just couldn't stay there. Nico stormed out of the building and began to walk down the streets of New York alone. He passed by a few people but no one stopped him or said anything to him. He could feel the cold chill of the day and see the small amount of snow that had managed to stay on the ground. After nearly twenty minutes of walking he noticed the buildings got taller and he supposed he was nearing downtown Manhattan.

By this point, Nico was shivering slightly but he welcomed the cold and it helped him get his mind off everything. He supposed he could spend some time in Central Park and ease a little more before walking back to grab his things. While he was walking, he thought back to all the good times he had with his family. He had been so young when everything began to fall apart. His mother and sister died when he was just barely seven years old and that was when everything changed. He and his father stayed close for a few years, but eventually he was left by him when he was ten.

He never saw his father again after that day, and he never knew why he left. If given the chance Nico would ask him why and then yell at him to never come back. He had refused to cry over his father and he hasn't cried since he was put in foster care. Now his half-sister and her family were taking care of him after spending three years in the system. He hated all that time spent there alone, and he refused to speak of what he went through while being there. Despite being older than most, he was certainly one of the smallest and had a hard time defending himself.

Nico stopped at a break in the trees to see the towers overhead and he sighed deeply. The cold was really starting to get to him but he didn't want to have to walk all the way back just to face everyone again. So, he sat down on one of the benches and thought of what he could do next. However, he was ripped from his thoughts when someone sat down right next to him.

"You are certainly hard to find." Will said.

Nico looked over at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you obviously. Since no one else would."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well you freaked Chiron out when you left so quickly, but the other staff didn't care. So, I took it upon myself to find you. No one knows that I'm here."

"How did you find me?"

"I have my ways, and here."

Will put a thick coat around him and kept his arm over his shoulders while he warmed up. Nico was shivering furiously and could not care enough to shove Will's arm off. He could feel the heat flowing from Will and it was nice after being in the cold so long. Nico didn't say anything to him, he just remained silent and it seemed Will understood why.

"You know I always wanted to New York, and now I live here, how's that for irony." Will joked.

"I use to live in Italy." Nico said quietly.

Will looked at him, "You really lost your accent then, I figured you had learned Italian just because. That's still really cool though, I've never been out of the country."

"I'd say Texas is pretty out there." Nico joked.

Will laughed softly, "Yeah, it is but still in the country. Hey, I wanted to ask why are you out here all by yourself."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine, but I still want to know, and maybe one day you'll feel up to telling me."

"Maybe."

Will looked at him and smiled brightly and Nico offered a small grin in return. Will stood and helped Nico up as well and they began to walk in the park side by side. They stayed silent for a few minutes and Nico really appreciated the silence, but not the fact that it was silence. He found some solace in the fact that for once in his life someone seemed to care and wasn't disgusted by Nico's personality.

"I hope we can be friends one day." Will said.

"I don't think it'll be all that long as you seem to ignore my attempts at being alone."

"Well, you've been alone long enough and I see how much you mean to Hazel, plus what's the harm in having a friend."

"I wouldn't know."

"And why's that?" Will asked concerned.

"Never had a friend before."

"Really? Like never?" Will asked shocked.

"Yeah, I was really young when I left Italy and it took a while for me to get adjusted to living here."

"Well, then Nico, you and I are officially friends whether you like it or not."

"Don't expect me to be too happy about it."

"Never said you had to be." Will said smiling.

"Whatever." Nico rolled his eyes.

They walked on in silence with Will having a large smile on his face and Nico simply bearing his presence and soon they were out of the park. They slowly made their way back uptown and towards the school, despite how much Nico simply wanted to ignore the place. Once back at the building Nico grabbed his things and said goodbye to Will and began to make his way back home, dreading when he would have to come back the next day.

 **So these chapters are going to be rather hefty for a good while as I'm setting up conflict between characters and building the overall plot line. Now, I rather enjoy writing for Nico as he is a very interesting character and there is a great deal about his personality and mental state that I can really delve deep into. So, if these chapters aren't out quickly its not because of lack of interest, its either school or its taking longer to get everything into it that I want. That aside let me know what you think and if there are any portions of the story you think I could build on or add something new into the fray. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	3. Chapter 3

Nico enjoyed waking up to his alarm this morning as he hadn't realized the day before that it was in fact the weekend. Two whole days of not having to deal with anyone and he could do whatever he pleased, whenever he wanted to. Nico ate a small breakfast and then spent most of the rest of the morning in his bed sound asleep. When he woke, it was nearly noon and he slowly got up ate a lunch and threw himself into the shower. He stayed under the warm water for a long time, enjoying the feeling of the water on his skin.

After the shower, he quickly got dressed and left the house for another walk through the city. He didn't know where he was going to go, just as long as he wasn't stuck in the house longer than he had to be. As he walked down the streets he watched as many were walking quickly trying to get to places, or had their faces stuck on their phones and disregarded anything that was in front of them. He laughed to himself at how ridiculous they seemed, but he had done the same thing many times before.

He was nearing the park and he spotted something, or rather someone that made him freeze in his tracks, much to the ire of those behind him. He saw Percy, Jason, and Will all walking towards him, seemingly having a good time themselves. He immediately began to make a beeline for the park hoping that he wouldn't be spotted, and if he was, he could lose them there. The latter happened as Percy spotted him and tried to call out but he quickly vanished into the trees and other people. It would have been easier to lose them if the trees had leaves on them but he dealt with what he was given.

After about a minute of speed walking he made his way into the trees itself and then hid behind one of them, and not too soon. He heard Percy and Will yell and then talk to each other. After a few words one ran off, and he hoped to everything it was Will.

"Inveniet." He heard someone say.

He had no idea what it meant but he held his breath hoping they would just pass him by and he could get on with his day. He didn't want to have to deal with them anywhere than inside of school as that was more than enough exposure. He heard the snow crunch, and that made every muscle in his body freeze up fearing that they had finally found him.

"You know you are really hard to find, if you don't want to be." He heard someone say.

He yelled and jumped to see Will leaning up against the tree he was hiding behind. His shock immediately turned to anger and he gave Will a very harsh glare.

He held up his hands, "Don't blame me, Percy was the one who wanted to find you. I would've been more than happy to leave you alone."

"Then, why didn't you?" Nico crossed his arms.

"If you knew Percy the way I did then you wouldn't deny him all that much." He smiled.

"Well, you all can piss off as I don't want to be bothered."

"I know but it might be a little late for that."

Just as he finished both Percy and Jason ran up, breathing hard and leaning over. Nico looked at Will and he simply shrugged at him not sure how to take the situation.

"Hey, Nico." Percy said.

"Hi." Nico snapped.

"Just wanted to talk, no reason to get so worked up." Percy smiled.

"You are messing with the days in which I reserve for myself, where I don't have to deal with any of you."

"Well, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come with us to a party later tonight."

"A party?"

"Yeah, supposedly it's one of the Stoll's major parties." Will spoke.

"The Stoll's? You realize that is just an excuse for anyone to get really drunk." Nico deadpanned.

"C'mon, were all going. Practically the entire grade is going to be there, except you. I asked the Stoll's and they thought it would be cool if you actually came to something before you left all of us behind." Percy begged.

"You can just hang out with me, as I don't drink, and I only go simply to do something irregular every now and then." Will said.

"Fine, I will go, and not for you Percy."

Percy smiled wide and high fived a still panting Jason, who had seemed to have run around the entire park twice. Nico shook his head and wondered what he had done that had given him this kind of hand.

"The party starts in a few hours so you may want to head home and get ready. We would come with you but some of us have an image to keep and it takes a few hours to get that way." Percy said.

"Speak for yourself, I can go as is," Will turned to Nico, "You mind if I come with you to your house and wait there, that way I can make sure you get there as you probably don't know where they live."

"Can't say I've ever been there, so no."

"You know where we live right, Will?" Percy asked.

"Kind of, I've only been to your place once and Jason's maybe twice but it's been a few years."

"I know where to go if you need to." Nico said.

"You know where they live?"

"Since I've been there once, yes."

"How is that possible?"

"Photographic memory, I haven't forgotten a thing since I was three years old." Nico said casually.

Will and Percy looked astonished and Jason looked a little bored as he probably already knew this from Hazel. Percy waved to Will and then dragged Jason out of the park and back to his place so they could get all manly for Annabeth and Piper. Nico sighed and rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of Percy. That was something that caused Nico to get flustered despite having gotten over Percy a while ago. He had that small crush on him for years, despite how much he hated it and himself for it. The years of being in higher classes and less exposure from his antisocial behavior helped ease those feelings into nothing more than some affection into nothing at all.

He had a few of those flustered feelings around Will and he hoped it didn't mean he was beginning to like the guy, as he didn't want to have to deal with that situation all over again. Will bumped his shoulder and Nico looked over at him. Will motioned and the both began to leave, with Will a pace behind letting Nico lead the way to his home. He felt a little self-conscious at telling Will about his memory as only his family knew of his special talents and he wanted to keep it that way.

Once they had reached his home, he motioned Will in and from what he could tell Will wasn't surprise buy anything. That confirmed that he had been here before which made Nico's life easier for the time being.

"So, I can assume you've been here before?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, a few times."

"Good, then I don't have to explain where anything is and you can make yourself right at home, while I go put myself together."

Will simply smiled and sat down on the couch and turned on the T.V. and started to watch some show. Nico decided the best way to calm down and warm up would be to have a nice short hot shower. Once out he had to make the decision of what to wear, as he had no idea what was appropriate for something like a party as he had never been to one. He heard a soft knock on his door and luckily, he was still wearing the towel around his waist as it was Will and Hazel on the other side of the door.

"Hi, Nico. Care to tell me why he is in our living room watching T.V.?" Hazel asked.

"Did he not tell you?" Nico said dryly.

"He gave the reasoning that you were heading to some party with him."

"That is exactly why he is here."

Hazel looked both confused and surprised at the same time and she looked at Nico with wide eyes. She then looked at Will and there seemed to be some sort of silent conversation between the two of them. She then nodded her head and went down the hallway to her room and shut the door behind her and Will stood in the hallway. Nico then realized he was nearly naked in front of Will and felt his entire face burn, and it seemed Will didn't even notice.

"Mind if I come in and help?" Will asked.

"Help with what?" Nico aske nervously.

"Help you get ready? What else?"

"Oh, sure I kind of actually need help as I have no idea what is appropriate to wear to this sort of thing."

"You've never been to one, with a sister like Hazel?" Will asked surprised.

"No, I haven't and she's my half-sister."

"Well whatever."

Will began to look through all of Nico's clothes and Nico felt extremely self-conscious. Not only had he let Will into his only haven, but he was now letting him look through his clothes. Nico swallowed his pride and fear at it and dealt with it. He would be facing far worse things later tonight. He then thought of how on earth he had let all of this happen in such a short amount of time. Three days ago, he was still all by himself and not having to deal with anyone but himself and occasionally Octavian, but now he was friends with Will and heading to a party with him.

He tried to think of every possible answer other than the easiest one as to why he was doing all of this for Will. Nothing really worked in his opinion except for one, and he refused to accept that as truth as he had dealt with something like this before and he did not want to have to deal with it again. He was pulled out of his thoughts by none other than Will himself who sat down next to him on the bed.

"Are you paying any attention?" Will asked.

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts, what did you say?"

"Do you own anything other than black?" he asked.

"No."

"Well, then wear this."

It was simple black button up with black jeans, and not the skinny type that Nico enjoyed wearing. He sighed and shoved Will out of his room and got dressed as quickly as he could. Something about Will seemed off, and it especially got weird when Hazel didn't get on his case earlier after she looked at Will. He knew something was going on and it seemed he was the only one who didn't know what it was.

He would figure it out eventually as not much got by his mind. He would just have to be patient and put more clues together before he acted on anything. Most would probably go up and ask him what was wrong, but Nico had a different idea as he didn't feel brave enough to ask. He rarely ever asked what someone felt as that usually meant the question would be turned on him and he would be forced to talk about his feelings which he hated.

Once Nico was dressed he met Will in the living room and sat at the opposite edge of the couch and just watched the T.V. expecting Will to talk. When he didn't Nico started to get extremely uncomfortable as he had so many questions to ask. What was the party going to be like? What happened at these parties? What would he have to do once arriving? More and more questions began to pile up before Nico began to look over at Will almost every other second. Will seemed almost unaware of Nico's trepidations and it started to piss Nico off.

"You seem uncomfortable Nico." Will said.

"You think?" Nico snapped.

"Well, what's the matter?"

"I have a lot of questions of what on earth I am getting myself into."

"You don't have to worry about anything. You can just stick with me and I will make sure you get through alright."

"Only you, what about Hazel or Percy?"

"Percy is going to get a little wild, he gets that way when he's drunk. Hazel will be all over Frank and that is not something you want to third wheel, trust me."

"Ok, so I'll just stick with you and I do not intend to get drunk or anything like that. "

"You don't have to, I never do. I don't find any enjoyment out of it and you just feel horrible the next day. Not to mention sometimes you can't even remember what you did the day before." Will joked.

That scared Nico a little more as to what might happen if he really did lose control of himself. All the things he could say or do to people he rarely interacted with. He knew so much dirt that he could tear the school apart with what he knew, and not to mention his own demons he wanted to keep secret. No one needed to know about his feelings about a person, not now, not ever.

Will lightly hit him, "Hey, calm down you don't have to worry about anything. The only people who might try something are Drew, Khione, and Octavian. But, they usually ignore me and thus now you."

"I highly doubt Octavian will ignore me." Nico said quietly.

"Why do you say that?"

"Not your business."

"Nico." Will said sternly.

"Fine, after the announcement yesterday he warned me he wouldn't leave it alone. He said that he knew it was me somehow and I was going to pay for it, one way or another."

Will looked rather angry and that was the first-time Nico had ever seen him like this, not saying he had seen him much. It confused Nico as to why he seemed to care much as they had only met three days ago, and not under the best of circumstances. Luckily, he was saved from further questioning by Haze l who was putting her hair up in a ponytail. She looked at the both and Nico shook his head and she nodded seeming to understand. Not before she looked at Will and seemed to have another conversation with looks and it confused Nico how they knew each other so well.

He had never seen friends able to read each other like that so well before. Though he didn't have much to base it off as he never had any friends before. But, he supposed the who reading people by a look was something only siblings could do. It was something he would have to keep in the back of his mind for later and see if something ever came of it.

"So, you guys ready? Frank said he'd be here in about five." Hazel said.

"I'm always ready. Nico?" Will turned to him.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I still don't get why I'm even doing this, I never have before."

"And that's exactly why you're going." Will said.

Nico grumbled but got up anyway and grabbed his coat and followed them out the door, feeling his nerves rise with every passing moment. True enough when they were outside Frank was waiting on the sidewalk in the cold with gloves and a hat. His cheeks were only slightly red meaning he had only been outside for a small time, which didn't make sense as he lived almost twenty minutes away. It was just another thing Nico would add to his list of strange occurrences, which have seemed to pick up since being exposed to Will and his friends.

"Hey." Frank said as he hugged Hazel.

"Hey, yourself. You ready to go?" she asked.

"Ready when you are."

"Well, let's not keep the rest waiting."

The walk there was a rather long one as apparently, the Stoll's had rented a penthouse in some building a few blocks away. He had no idea how they had managed to convince their parents to do so, but now they had a lot less responsibilities for anything that happened. Upon entering the place, it seemed that the party was still ramping up as there were very few people dancing and many were simply finding a place to put their stuff. Nico imagined that within the next twenty minutes, half of these people would be drunk or on their way to becoming drunk.

Nico simply followed Will and he could begin to feel his nerves rise as the minutes passed. Very few noticed he was even there and he was glad for that, but he could see out of the corner of his eye Drew and Khione conspiring and looking at him. It set him on edge, but he wouldn't let something so trivial ruin his time. He was going to try and have fun for Will and Hazel's sake, even though he had a feeling this night was going to end badly.

Nico saw Percy and Jason with Piper and Annabeth talking and laughing while drinking something out of a red cup. If Nico was right in his assumption they would be one of the first to pass out. They walked over to them and they greeted each other and Nico simply stayed back and stayed silent. He was extremely uncomfortable with close contact and he was already nervous enough. He saw the Stoll's in the kitchen setting up a barrel of something and he rolled his eyes at that.

"Hey, Nico you alright?" Will asked.

Nico jumped, "Yeah, just got lost in my thoughts."

"I'm going to go find the others, I'll see you in a few. Try just sitting on the couch and wait, people shouldn't bother you there."

Nico nodded and walked over to the nearest couch and sat down. He simply watched those around him and he could tell things were beginning to ramp up as more had joined in the music, as more people arrived. He knew each face that walked in the door, even if he had never talked to them before. He felt the couch sink and he thought for an instant that Will had already come back, but when he turned he found someone he had only seen in the hall before. His name was Mitchell and he was only slightly taller than Nico, with dark brown hair and very tan skin. He had a reputation of trying to sleep with however caught his attention and just like Drew, few had refused him.

"Hi." Mitchell said.

"Hi." Nico clipped back.

"Never seen you before. New student or w someone just invite you?"

"I've been in the same school as you since we were ten." Nico barked.

"Oh, then how have I never noticed you before?"

"Probably because I didn't want to be noticed, especially by you."

"That's harsh don't you think?" he acted offended.

"Knowing you, no."

"Oh, well what do you know about me?"

Before Nico could answer Will came up and smiled at him. The smile faltered when he saw Mitchell next to him and he rushed over quickly.

"Hey, Mitchell." Will said.

"Hey, Will. Have you met my new friend here before?" he asked.

"Yes, I invited him."

"How come you never told me, especially when he's this cute."

"That's exactly why." Will crossed his arms.

"Getting jealous, are we?"

"Just leave him alone. He's not one to fall victim to your smiles and charm."

"Fine, fine, but I'm not giving up."

Mitchell walked away and Will watched him leave, making sure he stayed away.

"Sorry about that, I had no idea Mitchell would get that way so quickly."

"It's fine, I know what he's like. I wasn't about to let someone like him get away with anything."

"Good, now do you need anything?"

"No, go have fun. You don't need to avoid everyone just for me. I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"If you say so."

Will walked away and Nico continued to watch others, and the music grew louder as most began to dance and grind. He had no idea why people enjoyed getting all hot and sweaty while next to so many others. He supposed it was a social thing, something he would never understand. He spotted Percy and Annabeth in the mix and he then avoided his gaze away from the display. He watched others bet and do dares as they slowly began to grow more and more intoxicated.

He noticed Drew and Khione watching him as if he was some meal they were trying to hunt and he avoided his gaze. He had a feeling that eventually they would try something, and he would not be caught off guard. Nico stood and left the couch as he was feeling too crowded there and moved to the kitchen where people would only pop in for a moment. Leo was there messing with the barrel and left when he thought he was caught. Nico looked over what they had a snagged a few crackers to sate himself but didn't dare take any of the drinks as he knew what was in them.

"Nico, whatever are you doing here?"

He turned to see Khione standing in the doorway, essentially trapping him there. Drew was behind her smiling and Nico stood his ground, he was not about to let these people get to him so easily.

"Getting something to eat, you?" he smirked.

"Well, we were enjoying ourselves until some pest decided to come."

"Didn't know there were any rats here."

"Oh, no rats. Just lying, cheating, little bitches that think they own the world."

Nico glared at them and said nothing, he was out of his league here, though he could use his trump card on them but that would risk exposing his own secrets. He was not about ready to let them expose anymore about himself to anyone, unless he wanted it to happen. He started walking out but one of them grabbed him and threw him back into the room.

"Let me leave." he said.

"I don't think so, you see I know what you are and I'm not about ready to let an opportunity like this to slip by." Khione said.

"I said let me go!" he yelled.

He had no idea what happened next, but everything got extremely cold, and dark. Khione and drew were thrown a few feet back and the counters were cleaned of whatever was on top of them. Nico felt extremely tired and sat down with his back up against the wall. Khione got up and looked rather terrified and dragged Drew out of the room. He started to lose consciousness and he saw Will come in and he seemed to be asking questions but he couldn't hear him. He saw Percy and Jason come up behind and then everything went black.

 **So, this one took me longer to write than usual but here it is. Now I said that these may take longer as I've been building a plot and I'm starting to flush it out more with little tips here and there. I won't be going overboard on what's happening for a little while longer. I am also putting the whole Will and Nico thing on a slow burn as things are about to get complicated. However, I did give you some progress in this chapter and I hope it sates all of you. Most likely the next few chapters will come up faster as my spring break is in a week which gives me ample time to work. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	4. Chapter 4

Nico woke slowly not having any idea as to where he was or what had happened. He remembered that Khione and Drew had trapped him in the kitchen and he yelled at them to let him go, and suddenly everything went black. He slowly opened his eyes to meet a blurry scene, and he could hear people talking.

"…Don't know if it's the right time." The closest said.

"You saw what happened, he needs to know sooner. With the kind of power, he has, he could hurt someone." Another said.

He noticed it was Will and Hazel going at each other over something. He supposed it was something he wasn't meant to hear, or at least not yet from how they were talking. To make his presence known he slowly sat up and grabbed Will's hand. He noticed that he was wearing a golden ring, with suns and a strange test engraved in it. It sure was striking and he wondered how long Will had worn it, as he just now noticed it. He supposed it was new, considering Nico had a perfect memory and had never seen it before. Though he wasn't the only one who had begun sporting a ring in the past few years.

Percy was the first about three years ago, followed by Jason a month later. Leo and Annabeth got theirs the following year, with Reyna following suit two months after. Frank didn't start wearing one until another six months had passed and Piper only started wearing one three weeks ago. Hazel was now the only one of that group who didn't have one, and what struck him was that they were all different. Percy's was blue, Jason's grey, Leo's orange, Frank's red, Reyna's purple, and Piper's pink. Will's was a golden yellow, and what made Nico wonder is if you were trying to get the whole group thing across you would have them match but he supposed it was personalized for each one.

He pushed those thoughts aside and seeing as Will or Hazel had still yet to realize he was awake he cleared his throat and glared at both of them. At first, they looked extremely nervous, with Hazel's face going red. Soon, the face of embarrassment became one of worry as they focused their attention onto him.

"Glad to see your awake." Will said.

"Glad you finally noticed, now where are we and what happened?"

"That's the thing Nico we don't know what happened." Hazel said.

"Well can you at least tell me where we are."

"Home, the party lost its grove after that incident and since we all left many others followed suit. The Stoll's are angry to no end." Hazel explained.

"Should have figured something would go wrong." Nico grumbled.

"Hey, it wasn't you fault. How could anyone know Khione would try something like that." Will said smiling.

"Well, whatever, I just want to be left alone."

"Hazel would you mind go telling the others he's up, and our little predicament." Will said.

She nodded and walked off, and he finally noticed he was in his room. Will sat down on the chair by his desk and Nico sat up of his bed. It was quiet for a while, but not too unbearable as Nico was still taking things in. Something major had gone down, and they weren't telling him what it was, or what it meant. It was really starting to piss him off, as they had forced their way into his life and now wouldn't tell him things and why they needed to stay around because of those things.

He sighed deeply and guessed that if he was going to get any information it would be out of Will as he sucked at lying and keeping secrets. He just hoped that whatever he learned would help him figure everything out.

"I want the truth." Nico demanded.

"What truth?"

"About what happened and why it was so damn important."

"Why do you think it's important?" Will looked nervous.

"Please, I caught the last part of your talk with Hazel. Something is up and you aren't telling me, and more specifically its really starting to mess with my life." Nico's voice rose.

"There are just some things I can't tell you. At least not yet."

"That's not good enough Solace. You can either explain it to me or consider our brief friendship over."

Nico looked hard into Will's eyes and while the whole friendship thing held little sway in Nico's book, he could tell it was a different matter with Will. He almost looked pained by the options, which meant the information was serious and life changing if he was going to risk losing a friend. He sighed and let his head drop, muttering to himself and looked up at Nico defeated.

"Look, I can't tell you everything but I can say this. There are people after you, and there are specific reasons why. They all were here to do is protect you and help you overcome them."

Nico looked at him like it was the most stupid thing in the world. Not only did it not solve anything, is Nico could literally apply that to any moment in his entire life. From the bullies to the doctors, to the therapists, and specialists, they all wanted Nico. Whether it be for trauma, testing, or simply wanting to experiment on him they always wanted something.

"Get out." Nico said in a calm voice.

"Nico, you don't understand." Will pleaded.

"Get out, and tell your friends to leave me alone. I don't want to talk to or hear form any of you until I'm out of this hell."

Will looked close to tears but stiffened and left his room leaving a fuming Nico to blow off his steam. He hated that they thought that after all these years and after everything he had to deal with they could suddenly walk in, mess up his life, and protect him. They could all piss off, and he was more than capable of taking care of himself. He supposed he would still have to talk to Hazel, but that was a different case entirely. He could understand her wanting to try, after all they were family, but the others? He got up and slammed his door, hoping that would be a good message to all the others to back off.

He opened his window and climbed out onto the fire escape and looked to the morning sky. The sun had yet to come up, but you could see the deep red that was bleeding over as time passed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the one thing he didn't want anyone else to know he had. It was a simple band his father use to wear when he was younger, before everything happened. When his mother died, then his sister, his father changed. He became secluded and irritable and always yelled at him to leave.

When his father finally left him all he had was the ring that was left on the kitchen table. It was black and had two skulls on either side with a saying engraved in gold. He had no idea what it said as he never bothered to translate it, but he supposed it was something important to his father and he wanted to keep it that way. He heard someone knock on his door and he called them in and it was only Hazel. She came and joined him out on the fire escape and looked over the skyline.

"You were rather harsh to Will." She said.

"Whatever, they all deserved it."

"Nico, you don't need to do this to yourself. I know your life has sucked, and a lot has happened but you don't have to push everyone away."

Nico chuckled at that, "It's not that I want to push them away, it's all I know."

"What do you mean?"

"I know I rarely talk about dad, but after my mom and sister died he shoved me away. I was only a kid and suddenly I was virtually without a family. So, I learned how to be alone and survive alone. Then he up and left one day, and that was it. The foster system didn't help, and when you guys found me I had no idea how to take it. I had been alone for at least a few years and didn't know how to go back."

"I never knew that, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, I guess that's my fate. Though dad did leave something behind."

He showed her the ring and her eyes widened slightly before looking up at him for an explanation.

"He wore it every day, no matter where he went. He must have forgotten it on his way out all those years ago. When I found it I first thought it would get me a lot of money, but I could never sell it. This is the last connection I have to my family, and I will never let that go."

"Why don't you wear it?" she asked.

"I don't know, it always felt weird. Like it didn't belong to me and so I just kept it but never wore it."

"Try it now."

He slipped it on and for the first time it felt right. He smiled softly at how this ring brought out all the good times with his family. How his mother would laugh and smile at his antics, and how his father would role in the dirt in their pretend games. Even how he and Bianca would always go and get ice cream every Friday after school to celebrate another week done. He always got chocolate and she got strawberry. He looked up and hugged Hazel tightly wanting to thank her for all she had done. He knew that how he treated her wasn't the best and he supposed it was mostly his fault, but now he would try a little harder.

"Just because we had this moment doesn't mean I'm sticking around your friends." He said.

She laughed, "There's the Nico I know. Don't worry, they know to stay away."

She climbed back in and he followed and for the first time since they met, he had quality time with her that day. They made breakfast, watched movies and even went out for a walk together. He supposed that this new family would never replace his old one, and it didn't have to, he could just make room for more. When the day ended, he was tired and dreaded school the next day, but looked at the ring on his finger and smiled. He would take it in strides and not let anyone get in his way.

He woke up that Monday morning tired, and not wanting to focus but got ready anyway. He met Hazel for a quick breakfast and actually left with her for once. They walked in silence to school and once there Nico left her to go deal with his day. He spotted Will but ignored him and even spotted a rattled Khione with her crew walking down the halls. She gave him a nasty look when she walked by, but he kept a blank face and watched her go.

He fingered his ring trying to keep calm and he grabbed his books out of the locker and shut it huffing and walking to his first class. On his way, there he saw Will and he avoided his gaze even though it hurt for some odd reason. He entered to classroom to find it empty and he gave a small sigh of relief as he wouldn't have to deal with anyone just yet. He opened his notebook and decided to start on a new drawing of something he had seen in his dreams the night before.

He started on the left and slowly worked his way over, starting out with the rough shape and outline. Slowly he shaded and lined the left wing and moved to the body of the beast itself. The head was rather small but curved elegantly and the body was slim yet powerful in shape. The feathers sprawled across his body making the beast seem extremely soft and something you could sleep on. He decided to work on the other wing and finish the beast as a whole. Once he was done he was that it was a rather large bird, like an eagle or hawk of some kind and he had no idea why he dreamed it up.

When he looked up he noticed that most of the class had been filled and class had already started. Will and his compatriots still sat around him but they had seemed to agree to his terms and not bother him anymore. He did notice that every now and then Will would look over at him but then quickly put his attention back to the front. It was starting to be annoying and was pissing him off that no matter what he said or did Will wouldn't leave him be.

Once the class was over he made sure to make himself scarce and he hoped to everything that was kind to him he wouldn't have a run in with Octavian or anyone associated with him. However, it seemed that fate was not on his side that day as he was just close his locker he was pulled away. It was Octavian, his friend Ethan Nakamura, Drew, and Khione so he had no chance of getting away. He just sucked it up and gave them a blank stare hoping that if anything there wouldn't be too much enjoyment form this on their account.

He pulled out of the building into the back where there was a small amount of space between the building and the stadium, a place he knew all too well. The treatment started out as good as Nico could hope for with only little verbal jabs here and there. He would respond in kind with a blank face and utter silence. Eventually it started getting physical with Nico shoved to the ground and then came an endless amount of kicks and yelling and it took all of Nico's resolve to ignore them. He should have expected this to come sooner or later as it had been nearly two weeks since their last "talk", as Octavian put them.

He didn't know how long he had been on the ground for or when the kicking had stopped but he was yanked out of his mind when Octavian pulled him up. He usually never went for the face as that was very visible and likely to raise suspicion but it seemed that this time he didn't care. He socked Nico in the jaw and when he was staggering he followed it up with and uppercut which left Nico on his back. He brought up again and held up by Ethan as Octavian began to round on him with as many punches as he could get in. He saw through his blurry vision a smiling Khione and smirking Drew.

"Repellendum!' he heard someone yell.

He had no idea how but Octavian and Drew both went flying as Khione looked furious. Ethan dropped him and ran hoping to escape any possible retribution that might come about.

"Duratus et tene."

He saw Octavian and his compatriots stop moving and look at whoever it was with relative fear in their eyes, all except Khione. Nico turned his gaze and saw that Will stood behind him with his hand held high and a murderous look on his face.

"How dare you attack a goddess!" Khione screamed.

"Why is a goddess hanging around high schoolers? If you're so powerful you wouldn't be here, it would be beneath you." Will spat back.

What the hell were they talking about?

"This is all for a higher purpose, so pride must give way. It is not something a simple mortal would understand."

"If I'm just a mortal then get out of that trap I have you in."

She seemed to struggle for a few moments before screaming in frustration at not being able to move at all. Whatever Will had done, she wasn't going anywhere.

"How do you have the power to imprison me?!"

"I don't, but someone here does."

She looked at me then back to Will with a horrified expression on her face.

"You can't mean…?"

"Yeah, he is and he's not your play thing to mess with. So, leave him be or expect something worse the next time." Will threatened.

"Release me and we have a deal William Solace, but no this my wrath is easily contained but my master's is not."

Will dropped his arm, "Whatever just get out of here."

Khione hit the ground and then disappeared in a wind of ice and snow. Nico barely had enough energy to look up at Will before he was beginning to see black.

"Will…" he whispered.

He saw only black after that.

When he came to he was somewhere he had never been before. It was a large room and it was fairly warm and inviting. He saw a desk on one side with someone behind it and a few others spread around it seeming to be in a heated discussion. He looked the other way and saw Will asleep in a chair along with Hazel right next to him. He felt extreme guilt at making them worry so much for his sake, he just wasn't worth the trouble. He moved his arm and grabbed Will's knee and the boy roused slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

He smiled when he realized who had woken up and nudged Hazel as well. While she woke up he got up and went over to the group in the middle of a discussion. Nico watched him for a minute and then felt a soft hand on his chest and he looked so see Hazel with tears in her eyes.

"Hey." She said quietly.

"Hi," Nico sat up, "What happened?"

"Octavian beat you up, Will found you, sent them packing, and brought you back here to rest."

"And here is?"

"Chiron's office."

He nodded and saw that the talking seemed to have died and they were walking over to where he lay. Chiron rolled to be in front of him and Will sat down next to him, smiling.

"Nico, my boy, can you tell me what happened?" Chiron asked.

"Had another talk with Octavian, nothing too serious."

"Nothing serious, Nico you were out for nearly three hours." Will said.

"So, it's not like this hasn't happened before. I am more than capable of taking care of myself."

"That's aside from the matter, but what else do you remember?" Chiron continued.

"Will showed up and some freaky stuff happened. Octavian and his little gang couldn't move and Will suddenly was talking to Khione and she was yelling about being a goddess or something."

Chiron looked rather upset about that and Nico looked at his hands hoping that nothing horrible had happened. He looked to the others around the room and there seemed to be another silent discussion and then he looked at Hazel. She nodded and Chiron took that as conformation as something.

"Nico, there are a few things you need to be made aware of if your safety is to be maintained."

"Ok." Nico said slowly.

"What you saw was a small display of magic."

Nico's mood soured, "Magic, really? That's the excuse your coming up with. I'm not stupid, magic doesn't exist and even if it did don't you think people would notice."

"Magic has been a closely guarded secret for centuries among those who can use its power."

"Oh, yeah and there are really leprechauns at the end of rainbows, and unicorns and fairy's roam the forest. How stupid do you think I am?" Nico's voice rose.

"Percy if you please."

Percy nodded and pulled out a water bottle and opened it. Nico looked extremely skeptical and he simply waited for whatever was about to happen so he could leave faster.

"Otium aqua." Percy said.

Nothing happened for a moment then the water shot from the bottle and over his hand. He moved his fingers and the water responded in kind and shifted and changed along with his hand. He then gently put it all back in the bottle without spilling a drop and that sent Nico's mind reeling. He had always prized his mind and now he was going to have to challenge everything he knew if he was to buy into this. They all looked at him and he was still trying to process what he had just seen.

"Wait, so that was magic?" he asked.

They simply nodded.

"So, can you all do magic?" another nod.

"Well fuck me." Nico said.

"What?" Will asked.

"This is a lot to take in, I mean I've always thought one way and was above almost anyone I met when it came to understanding things. Now you're telling me all of those laws, and rules aren't true?"

"No, they are very much real. Magic allows us to manipulate and stretch those rules that would otherwise be impossible." Chiron said.

"So, you could theoretically create fire from nothing, move objects on command, and basically do whatever you wanted?"

"No, no, we are not that powerful. Even we have limits, as does everything. Try a too powerful spell, or try and accomplish more than your capable of and the results are devastating."

"So, what does this have to do with me?"

"Nico, you know that ring you told me dad always wore?" Hazel asked.

"Yes?"

"Well, that was a sign he was a fully-fledged magician. Not only that but he was beyond what most could only dream of achieving." Hazel said.

He looked down at the ring and he guessed that helped explain a few odd occurrences in his past whenever his father was around. Though from her tone it seemed that there was more to these rings than she was letting on but he let it pass.

"So, do you all have rings?"

"Most of us do, I still don't and Chiron never got one."

"Why?"

"I was never truly capable of what a wielder could do. With my complications, my abilities were limited so I never achieved what so many others have." He said sadly.

"So, all magicians get then when they get powerful enough."

"No, only those who are head of their respective power are able to wear them."

"But…"

"That's enough for now, Will will explain everything in time. For now, you need to go home and rest. You still have school tomorrow; however, your training will need to begin as soon as possible. The rest of you head back to class, and speak not a word of what had transpired today." Chiron said.

Everyone nodded and soon they left the room heading to their respective classes and Will grabbed his and what appeared to be Nico's bags. He smiled and waved him over and he started walking with Will. They stayed silent until they were out of the building and Will pulled him over to the side and made sure no one was looking.

"Ok, I need to you to picture your room for me." He said.

"Why?"

"Were going to teleport there."

"Why couldn't you just do that in the school?"

"Too many people, and there are others who are not so kind hiding in the school." Will said seriously.

Nico sighed but pictured his room anyway and when Will offered his arm, Nico grabbed it maintaining that image he had. He fought the blush that was creeping on his face and hoped Will wouldn't notice and if he did he thought it was the cold.

"Ianuae Magicae!" Will said.

He had no way of explaining what he felt next. He felt like air, but as solid as any rock yet light as feather. He could feel himself moving at impossible speeds, yet it seemed like he wasn't moving at all. Next thing he knew they were both standing in the middle of his room and he was holding onto Will extremely tightly. Will chuckled and Nico quickly tried to remove himself from the situation. He not only felt extremely embarrassed, but very flustered at the same time.

"Good to be back here, though he should seriously think about adding some color." Will said.

Nico simply sighed and removed his coat and threw it into his closet and Will sat himself down at his desk. Nico then sat on his bed and looked at Will feeling very apprehensive about the whole situation. His plan of being left alone seems to have been shot to hell.

"Well, what do you want to do first? There is a lot we need to cover." Will said.

Nico looked at him, "First all why were you talking to Khione that way?"

"Thought you would ask that. You see she is a goddess, or in easier terms a very powerful angel of sorts. There are dozens of gods and goddesses that have domains over certain things, but still answer to higher ups. Think of it as a pyramid, with mortals being the most numerous at the bottom, next is us mages, then the gods and goddesses, the Arch Angels, and then the one on top of it all."

"So, Christians have had it right the whole time?"

"Yes and no. While there is one big creator over everything, he doesn't control everything one hundred percent. He has the Arch angels and thus the gods and goddesses do the small details for him. Almost all pantheons can trace their origins from mages. After all, we do know how it all works as you go higher up."

"That's horribly confusing."

"I know, but best not to dwell on it too much, can give you some major headaches." Will said.

"So, these gods, why was there one at school?"

"Khione and a few others serve someone who has fallen. He's not to be spoken of, I can't even say his name. Let's just say that after a while he got tired of how things ran and rebelled. He lost but he has been rebuilding over time and has been gaining followers in the past few years."

"So, I noticed you wear a ring."

"Yeah, earned it just a few days ago."

"How can you be the head of a field being so young?"

"Well, you know who has not been sitting idly by. Past few years he's been killing off the mage hierarchy, hoping to work his way up from there. The group you saw in Chiron's office are some of the only mages left alive. We used to number in the thousands, but now you'd be lucky to get more than thirty of us together. Khione is an agent, feeding information and one day hoping to strike."

Nico sat there in silence at this information. He didn't think it was that serious but now, everything had changed. He was starting to get excited about being a mage and all but with the fact that some dark force was nearing a victory already did not sit well.

"Why has nothing happened if there are so many of you close together?" He asked after a while.

"They know that were basically that last group of mages left, other than a few random ones in hiding. That's also why their hesitant, a group like us won't go down easily if at all on the first try. So, they have to bide their time and see if they can't find a way, but with you joining the ranks we have more time."

"More time?"

"There's a reason why I could hold Khione. I could never do it alone, but I could feel your power and feed off it to hold her. You are extremely powerful, even without any training and that makes the other side very nervous. We don't know how, but you have the power to match a god, maybe even an arch angel so they worry that you might tip the scales. That thing with Octavian was probably ordered from above, to get rid of you."

Nico sat there in silence a little stunned by that fact. They had tried to kill him already and he had no idea that they even existed. It terrified him to his core and he seriously wanted something to get this off his mind.

"Enough of this sad talk, let's do something fun." Will stood.

"Is a movie fine?" Nico asked quietly.

"Whatever you want."

He thanked everything he knew that Will was such a nice person and understood his nerves. Will seemed to read him fairly easily and that made Nico feel somewhat better. They decided upon a Star Wars marathon with a lunch, dinner combo of pizza. The lights were turned out and when the opening credits crawled he felt Will shift next to him. Will's arm came around his shoulders and for once Nico didn't mind the contact. He evened leaned into it and that only made Will hug him tighter.

 **So my spring break starts tomorrow and I have a ten hour drive ahead to Florida, so I definately will be working hard to bring you all the next chapter. I hope you like this chapter, as I had been wanting to get to this point since I first started writing. It's a little heavy with the explanation but I hope I made a few people happy with the sweet moment at the end. The training will pick up next chapter and things will only get more interesting from there as the world expands. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	5. Chapter 5

For Nico, the week could not have been any slower even if he wanted it to be. After the whole fiasco on Monday all he wanted was to get to the weekend so he could figure out his life at this point. Not only did his entire understanding of the world change but also it directly affected him as he was right in the middle of it. Chiron had explained to him that in order for him to survive he needed to begin training as soon as possible. Will had told him he would take control of that and Nico hoped that he was up for everything that was to come.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed since Monday. After the talk, Will and his friends would not leave him alone, escorting him from class to class and sitting with him at lunch, even going so far as to walk him home at the end of the day. At first, he didn't mind as he understood their fear, but as time wore on they began to wear on his nerves more and more. He even snapped at then a few times a week, and yet they still followed him. Will was the worst of all of them.

He pushed Nico's boundary of comfort with his constant touching. If it was either the brush of the hand or the full-on hugs he would give Nico at the oddest of times. He reveled in the few times a day he could get away from them, even if they didn't last long. He had yet to yell at Will as he didn't want to offend him too much, and Nico had no idea why he even cared about that. Nico had no idea why he cared about Will's constant smiles, or how warm he was, or how not matter the situation he was always in a good mood.

Nico had no idea of what to make of these actions and his feeling towards them and he often elected to ignore them. However, whenever Will would do something small like ask him how his day was or offer to carry some of his books all those feeling came f\rushing back to the surface. Nico hated it more than anything, as he had felt things like this before and it ended horribly for him and so he never wanted to deal with them again.

He shut his locker and shouldered his bag and sighed out of relief that Friday was finally over. He walked out of the building and began his regular walk back home only for someone to come up and start walking with him.

"Hey." Percy said.

"Piss off." Nico replied.

"Well someone is in a bad mood."

"I just want to be alone."

"Well, it's a little late for that now. Your stuck with me, at least until you get home." Percy smiled.

"You need to stop with that cheerfulness, I already get enough from Will as it is."

"Yeah, I've noticed. He seems quite fond of you and I haven't seen him this way in a long time."

"Don't go down that road I think your hinting at." Nico warned.

"You just don't like the idea of someone liking you, is that it?" Percy teased.

"No, it's for personal reasons."

"C'mon Nico open up, I want to hear some dirt." Percy nudged him.

"I'd really rather not go down that road again, end of story." Nico growled.

"Wow, sorry didn't mean to hit a nerve. I would've thought that you would enjoy someone actually being sweet on you every now and then."

"Yeah, well you thought wrong."

"Well, at least you make Will happy and I guess that's all I can ask for."

Nico didn't respond to that and they stayed silent for the entire rest of the way to his home and he guessed that was the best he could ask for. It was hard for him to deal with past demons and he supposed that was why he was so shut off to everyone, but trying to deal with them caused him too much pain. Pain that he didn't want to have to deal with again.

"Well, this is where I leave you. Will is coming over in an hour to start your training so try to be patient with him as it is a lot to take in."

"I'll try and thanks."

"No problem, now go make Will happy some more."

Nico's face grew extremely warm and Percy laughed and began to walk away. Nico quickly shut the door and bolted up to him room, hoping to escape there and not have to deal with anyone for a little while. If he wasn't confused enough, Percy just had to go and make things even more difficult for him. Now he would feel guilty whenever he was around Will, because as he had suspected the things that Will wanted Nico couldn't give him. He would just end up hurting him and Nico would lose another friend and he just couldn't deal with that all over again.

He shut his eyes when he landed on his bed and just shut everything else in the world out. It was a nice peaceful few minutes before someone came banging on his door and the peace was shattered. He got up in a huff and threw open the door to find Hazel and Will both standing on the other side.

"I've been knocking for nearly five minutes Nico." Hazel said.

"Sorry, I must've fallen asleep."

Will only smiled, "Well you have Will now so get to the practicing and try not to break anything."

He nodded and let Will in and shut the door behind him. He noticed Will was carrying several diary books and Nico feared of what Will was going to show. He sat down at the desk and set the books down and Nico moved over to sit down on his bed again.

"So, I've got a few things for you. Each one of these books contains a great deal of spells and other things you need to learn fast. I also have a personal book for you to write down any spells you really want to remember or come up with on your own. Spells aren't the only thing, there are also magical creatures you'll see every now and then, and you also need to learn the hierarchy of power that we follow." Will said.

"What's that one for?" Nico pointed to the one with a sun on it.

"That's mine, its full of spells I use or came up with and I thought that you could look through it and see if you wanted to copy any of them into your own."

Nico looked through it and there were pages full of spells, what they did and anything else Will had encountered over the years. When he reached the end, he noticed that there still were blank pages yet the book should not have been able to hold that many. Nico looked up at Will with a questioning gaze and Will smiled.

"Yeah each book has a little enchantment to add new pages when needed and not get any thicker at the same time."

Nico nodded and started to read some of the things that were written in the book about beasts. There were things about phoenix's, Direwolves, werecats, Cyrus Eagles, and many others. He had no idea how he was going to learn all of this quickly as it seemed there was years of knowledge in just these few books.

"This seems like a lot." Nico said.

"I know but Chiron doesn't do things by halves. He also wants to make sure your as competent as quickly as possible because of what we face."

"Well I'll certainly try, I guess my memory is going to be of good use again."

"Yeah, didn't you say you had a photographic one?"

"Yes, and I haven't really put it to use in years, never needed to after sixth grade."

Will laughed and Nico smirked ever so slightly and got back to reading more and he sat there working while Will was looking through his book and writing things down in Nico's. After a few hours of work Hazel called them down for dinner and it was relatively light one and no one said anything while they all ate. Nico thought it was extremely awkward even though Will and Hazel had known each other much longer than Nico.

Once dinner was over they both went back to work and went on well into the night and eventually Will called it a night. He left his book though and Nico kept reading through it and he started to appreciate how powerful Will must seem. There were hundreds of spells that he had written down and they were all ones Will had used. Some were simple and seemed almost effortless, but others were mind bending in what they did.

He saw one that could literally rip the light out a room and redirect it in a powerful beam. Another could heal an amputated limb back from just a stump or fix any number of serious injuries. Nico guessed that Will's specialty was healing and light manipulation. Nico had no idea what the others were good at, but the number of spells regarding healing and using light gave major hints. Nico guessed that was why Will's ring was colored a golden yellow as it represented light and healing.

Nico had no idea how late he stayed up but he must have collapsed sometime in the night as when he woke, he was on the ground surrounded by all the books. He sat up and wiped a hand over his face trying to get rid of the tiredness he felt. Hazel came knocking and imply opened the door after the third time trying as Nico was still half asleep.

"How late did you stay up?" she asked

Nico simply shrugged, "Well get ready, were going somewhere today."

Nico nodded and began to clean up the mess, but Hazel sighed and shoved him out of the way, motioning to the bathroom. He grabbed some clothes and while she cleaned up the mess of papers and books Nico took a lukewarm shower to wake him up. It didn't really help but at least it shoved off some of the sluggishness he had. Once dressed he made his way back to his room grabbing his coat and shoes, making sure his dad's ring was on his finger. Hazel was still in her room as he had a quick breakfast and by the time he had his shoes on Hazel was ready to walk out the door.

He supposed she used something to speed along her morning but he didn't feel the mood to ask. They simply left the house and began walking to wherever it is she wanted to show him. After a good ten minutes of walking they came to a back alley, with a few hole in the wall shops and above all else a dojo.

"Um, why are we going to a dojo?" Nico asked.

"It's not a dojo, it's where you are going to train."

She knocked three times and the door flew open and they both stepped inside. When the door closed, Nico was thoroughly impressed at the size of the place. It was three stories with a huge sparring area on the bottom floor, a library on the second, and a storage place of some sort on the third. He saw various practice weapons and other odds and ends and it made him wonder how organized they really were.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"This is one of our sanctums. It's essentially a place for us to practice, and learn in relative safety."

"The other day it made it seem like you guys were just some rag tag band of magic users, and now this?"

"You need to realize there use to be thousands of magic wielders. Some places, especially with high populations had to have some order, so councils were set up in various countries along with the sanctums to keep everything in order. Chiron use to be a part of the U.S. council until it disbanded twenty years ago."

"So, you just have these places hidden all over the world?"

"More or less, but when the magic purges started back in the 1700's further efforts had to be made to hide these places. Though, with the destruction of the magical orders over the past decades these places have become nothing more than graveyards. The only other functioning sanctum is in Los Angeles."

"So, no one can just walk in here on accident?"

"Not any more. There are wards that make suggestions to mortals to avoid this place. However, some aren't affected and there have been a few random entries. Though, most of the time the person is simply lost."

Nico began to run his hands over the various weapons, and spotted quite an assortment. He saw broad swords, katanas, spears, pikes, clubs, maces, knives, and others he had never seen before. All of them were made of wood, and that made his wonder if there were real versions of these things somewhere in this place.

"Do you know how to use all of these?" he asked.

"No, but I'm pretty proficient with a spear, and a cavalry sword. If you want someone who is almost good at them all, you should talk to Percy or Jason."

"I've never used any of these before and it's weird to hear that."

"Nico, there are real dangers out there. The enemy has amassed a huge following of the various monsters, and beasts that roam the world. If we didn't know how to use one of these we would've been dead years ago."

Nico shook his head, "How can you say that when I've gone longer than any of you without knowing any of this?"

Hazel stopped for a moment, puzzled and then she got a look of absolute horror on her face.

"Nico, do you know who your mother was?" she asked.

Nico grimaced, "Yeah, her name was Maria di Angelo."

Hazel rushed up the stairs and he followed her. She ran into the library and began to look for something in row after row of books. Someone walked over and looked at her for a second then him.

"Do you know what she is doing?" he asked.

"If I knew I wouldn't be standing here." Nico replied.

"Well, the names Malcolm and I keep this place running and you are?"

"Nico di Angelo, Hazel's half-brother."

"So, you're the one everybody is talking about. A super powerful mage that has never seen a day of training in your life. I was a bit skeptical but when Will told me he used your raw power to trap Khione there had to be a truth in it."

"Here." Hazel said coming back over.

"What are you going on about?" Nico asked.

"I was wondering how we could have the same father yet look nothing alike. However, that ring and a few other keys things you've told me helped me figure it out."

She opened a book and flipped to a page with a picture of the power hierarchy the world was run by.

"At the bottom are mortals who have no power or any idea of what really goes on around them. Next up is us mages who have some power and are generally children of the gods, or are legacies of other mages. Then there are the gods themselves who control a certain aspect of nature, and above them are the Arch angels which keep the gods in line and prevent them from screwing with the mortal world. At the very top is the one who created everything and who everyone serves," she flipped the page, "However, they aren't the only part. There is Death, the oldest Arch angel in existence and is the only one capable of killing anyone besides the creator himself. He had his own lieutenants who are free to mingle with mortals, and all that. My dad is Pluto, one of those lieutenants, but there are others like Thanatos, Alecto, Persephone, and so on."

"Hazel, my dad wasn't named Pluto." Nico said.

"Exactly, there's a reason why no one ever messed with you or your family. Your dad what was his name?"

"Hades."

She looked to Malcolm whose eyes grew huge as he looked at Nico then to Hazel. She pointed to the top of the page with the picture being a hooded figure holding a huge scythe.

"Your dad was Death himself. He stuck around until you were what ten?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, he would go on long trips but always came back and brought us presents from wherever he came from. What I don't get is it says here that anyone who touches death dies, I would hug him all the time and nothing ever happened. He would even kiss and hug my mom and she was just a mortal."

"You had his blood, he couldn't kill with his touch even if he wanted to. As for your mom, that ring must've capped his power so he could interact with mortals. I've never seen anything like it and he left it to you."

Nico sat down and hung his head. It all made sense, why nothing ever bothered him and his family for all of those years. No one would dare mess with Death or anyone close to him. He kept Nico safe for ten years and Nico didn't know. Him leaving made even more sense as he had a duty and probably didn't want to jeopardize the only family he had left. Nico swallowed all of those emotions that came bubbling to the surface and stood again.

"So, now what? I'm death's son, hurray. What do we do from here?"

"You are going to stay here. I'm going to fetch Chiron and the others and bring them here so they can all know at once. Malcolm, I think you know what to do." Hazel said.

He nodded and she went down the stairs and left the building to go find the others. Malcolm tapped and him and motioned for him to follow and then went up the next story. ON the top floor was cases of weapons and other various items that looked really old. He saw some weird helmets, a few rusted swords, and even a cape.

"This is our hall of weapons."

"Not a whole lot for being an order thousands of years old." Nico commented.

"These are the only weapons we've been able to find as mages were killed off. All the others are either missing or destroyed. We go out now and then to see if we can't find more but it seems they have dried up. We haven't found a weapon in near on three years."

"Couldn't you just summon them?"

"Not unless you wanted to kill yourself. Weapons have a specific owner and unless that owner gives it up or you kill him you can't just take them. Besides, most of them have wards against summoning so they can't be used for the wrong reasons. Most simply vanish when they are lost and only appear when they deem the mage worthy."

"Some of them look pretty dated."

"Yeah, some were only hanging in other sanctums as they are too brittle to use anymore. Though we try to restore them, some are just too old or broken to mend."

Nico looked over the various swords and saw in the back probably the weirdest sword he had ever seen. It was black as night and seemed to suck all the light and air around it in. The glass was thick and very dusty, meaning it had been here a long time.

"What's this one?" he asked.

"That is probably the most dangerous thing here. No one knows where it came from, or who made it but it's one of a kind. One cut and you are dead."

Nico looked wide eyed at it, "Really?"

"Yeah, it's been around for about four centuries but no one has ever used it."

"Why is that?"

"Because no one has been able to. People have tried but the sword has always refused everyone who has tried to claim it. This thing can kill gods, though it takes more than a scratch on them."

"Can I try it out?"

Malcolm looked wary but lifted the glass off anyway and Nico carefully grabbed the hilt. IT was perfectly balanced in Nico's hand and felt as if it was a part of him. It seemed to come alive when he touched it, gaining an ethereal glow to it and he swung it around a few times. He was terrified to touch it but he grabbed the blade and it was cold to the touch. Were his hand met the metal it glowed and seemed to gain power.

"I like it." Nico said.

"Yeah, I think it likes you to. I've never seen or heard of anyone touching the blade without either dying or losing a limb."

"Really?"

"Yes, it causes decay to whatever it touches, but seeing as you are half death that won't harm you. I want to try something."

"That is?"

"Cut yourself with the blade."

Nico looked at him, "Are you crazy?"

"I just want to see if it hurts you. You can essentially control death so I wonder if it could even kill you."

Nico shook his head thinking he was the maddest person on the earth for trying this. He took the blade over his palm and sliced it clean. It stung for an initial second and he looked at his hand. There was only a red line where the blade had been and it hadn't even broken his skin. He looked up at Malcolm and smiled, breathing a sigh of relief that he didn't die.

"Yep, that pretty much settles it, the blade is yours."

"I can keep it?"

"Seeing as you're the only one who can use it in any fashion and not die I'd say yes."

"Cool."

The door to the place opened and you could hear all the talking. He guessed Hazel had found everyone and had gathered them all. He and Malcolm descended the steps and when they reached the ground all the talk stopped when they saw him. More importantly they were looking at the sword he was wielding and there seemed to be a kind of fear in them at its presence.

"Nico, care to tell us something?" Will asked.

"Yeah, so me and Hazel figured out who my dad was and why he had the ring."

"And, my dear boy?" Chiron said.

"His name was Hades, and he's the Arch Angel Death."

There was a collective silence as everyone drank in the new information. Most seemed utterly shocked by it, well except for Will and Annabeth who were trying to read him for some reason.

"I'm assuming that the sword claimed him?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes, and it can't even hurt him."

Annabeth nodded and Nico looked to Will and it was starting to eat at Nico. Will had no expression and was simply looking at him with a blank face. This threw Nico onto the defensive and he started to fear that Will was going to reject him. That is until Will spoke.

"I knew it." He said.

"What?" They all asked.

"Don't get me wrong it wasn't easy, but after what was happening I started watching. Over time I put the pieces together and the ring sealed it. I even asked Annabeth but she thought the same thing so this really doesn't faze me."

Nico visibly relaxed that they were all taking it so well, especially Will. Nico was starting to come to the terrifying conclusion about his emotions regarding Will and it did not look good. He wasn't afraid of liking someone romantically, it simply was that it was a guy and Nico made sure no one knew his preference. He had kept so many secrets and he couldn't dare let this one slip, so he would suffer heartache if it meant secrecy.

He didn't speak much after that little coming to census, but he was explained to that he would be learning how to wield a sword so he could survive in the world. He also was going to be taking lessons from Annabeth about histories and other small subjects that most overlooked when learning magic. Will was still in charge of teaching him spells and he supposed that was at least constant, but he would not be taught alone, as a few other magic wielders were being sent their way. News had come in that the L.A. sanctum had been attacked and was no longer safe.

Weapons, books, and other materials had been arriving for weeks and now students would be joining the flow. Only one master made it out of L.A. as the rest had been killed, which was not a good thing. That brought the total known magic wielders down to twenty-seven throughout the world. Nico simple feel into a regular routine of school and then lessons after school. It stayed that way for near on two months before anything interesting happened and it wasn't magical, it was one of his least favorite things in the world. A school dance had come up, not just any it was turn-a-bout which was a normal dance, only the girls asked the guys.

He hated dances and never went to one, it wasn't as if he was actually going to ask someone. He could always see the rush of people during school and all the gossip of who asked who and what that meant but he could care less about it. The only person he tolerated talking about it was Hazel as she always needed help getting ready and he was more than willing to help. Some would say you would at least want to go to one before you graduated but Nico would be more than happy to avoid it in its entirety.

He walked into the school building where it was one week before the dance and most had either asked last week or were becoming very desperate this week. Nico had never felt more dread in his life than when he saw Will standing by his locker looking as casual as ever.

 **So, this took longer than I thought but here it is and I hope you like the way the story is progressing so far. Now I plan to keep it somewhat down to earth in the sense that they still live normal teenage lives. However, this chapter helps flush out their world a little and give some explanation into how it all works. Now the cast is going to get bigger as time goes on, but expect it to stay that way the entire time. Who knows I may pull a George R.R. Martin and start killing all the main characters like Percy and Jason or maybe Annabeth but who knows. Maybe you all can convince me who I should keep and then I can kill off or send away others that don't serve that much of a purpose. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	6. Chapter 6

Nico stood there frozen staring at Will who was leaning against his locker seemingly waiting for him. Nico had a relatively cool understanding with all of them, it was that he would talk to them about any problems he had and they would leave him relatively alone. Will seeking him out broke that truce and would cause a lot of talk, which was something Nico did not want to go through again. He sighed and walked up to his locker and decided to ignore Will for the most part. When he got there Wil saw him but didn't say anything, and Nico simply went about his normal routine hoping that whatever Will wanted wasn't major.

"So, have you seen all the huge displays of affection these past few weeks?" Will asked.

"Yeah but it's nothing new, and I hate it every year."

Will nodded, "I never got why people would make such a big deal about a simple dance. Though after a few times I think I've started to get the whole purpose."

"Where are, you going with this?" Nico asked slowly shutting his locker.

"Nowhere, just making conversation. That is what friends do right?"

"I suppose, but I thought I made it clear that you guys would leave me alone. I've had enough attention for the next five years, I don't need anymore."

"I never agreed to that, I only gave you space because everything that happened was a lot to take in and I assumed you wanted some."

"Well, I still don't want you hanging around me all the time." Nico said.

"I don't have to listen to you, and there is nothing you can do about it." Will smiled.

Nico simply huffed and slammed his locker shut and started walking to his class which luckily didn't involve Will in any fashion. He simply sat down and waited for Annabeth to join him, which he supposed he had gotten used to it. The amount of times they had talked he had found she was actually pretty likable and she was one of the few people Nico could consider a friend. She walked in with a red rose in hand and sat down without a word as Nico looked at her, wondering why on earth she had one.

"If you must know, Percy gave me the rose in lead up to the dance this weekend. He usually gets really sappy around events like this, despite some of my protests at his efforts."

"He's just trying to show how much he cares, and besides it's just a stupid dance. I can't tell you how much I hate these things." Nico replied.

"I know, but sometimes he can go a little overboard. Speaking of dance, are you going?"

"No, and I never will and besides it's not like I have a line of people waiting to ask me."

"So, say it was a specific person like say Will, you would go?" she smirked.

"I never said it had to be a specific person, and I hate those dances so anyone who likes them can piss off." Nico huffed.

"Well I heard that Mitchell still has his eyes on you so I would watch your back."

"I'll give him the same answer I would give all the others."

"Just trying to warn you."

After that they didn't talk for the rest of the class and Nico spent a majority reading the various books that Annabeth had given him from their library. Most of them at this point were basic spell books, and history books so he had a better understanding of the world he was in. He had yet to get really into the physical training as he needed a better understanding of magic before he would get into real combat.

He did watch Jason and Percy go at it a few times when at the sanctum, and it seemed really intense. They didn't use any magic when fighting as they wanted to be good at fighting without having to rely on magic all the time. When he saw the times, they did use magic he had no idea how he could get that good and it made him feel extremely self-conscious. He mostly concentrated on reading while there and generally avoided all the others as their training was far more intense. Annabeth made sure he stayed on top of things and Chiron would occasionally appear and ask how his training was going.

Will was a constant and often helped him in his studies, though Will really couldn't teach him any healing spells as Nico's affinity was death and that did not mix well. Though with his memory he was getting close to some of the much more practice students in knowing and understanding spells, though he was far from using them effectively. He was barely able to use them in any way that wasn't destructive. It frustrated him to know end, and when he watched the others use the spells as if it was nothing.

The bell jolted him out of his thoughts and he made his way out the door. Once out he discovered Mitchell leaning on the wall outside the classroom. He played it off that he didn't see him but Mitchell saw him and started to trail him, but didn't say anything. Once at his locker Mitchell leaned on the ones next to him and smiled.

"Hey Nico." He said.

"What do you want?" Nico snapped.

"Oh, straight to the point. I just wanted to ask how your weekend was."

"Just like any other."

"Well mine was great, but this weekend is going to be even better." Mitchell beamed.

"Oh, and how is that?"

"Well one there is the killer dance that I always look forward to, second there is going to be a killer party afterwards, and third I get to spend it with the cutest guy ever."

"Well lucky him. Now can you kindly piss off."

"Why would I leave that cute guy all alone." Mitchell smiled.

Nico looked behind him and to his horror he found Will looking dumb struck. Nico's attitude immediately changed into one of fury and he turned his gaze back onto Mitchell.

"One, I will never go to one of those stupid dances, let alone with you. Two, you are just a two-bit charmer wanting to get into every single virgin's pants, and three, I am not that shallow to go with someone a barely know just because he smiles at me. Now piss off." Nico said barely containing his fury.

Mitchell's face fell but he walked off and Nico made sure that he left keeping his fury filled eyes on him until he turned the corner. He then turned back to Will who looked rather astonished by his actions and slowly walked up.

"Hi." Nico said sharply.

"Hey, what was that all about?"

"Mitchell being an ass, is what it was."

"Oh, to me it seemed he was making a very romantic gesture." Will joked.

"That is not what I want to hear right now. Why can't people just lay off about this dance, first Hazel, then Annabeth, and now Mitchell."

"I didn't know you were so against them."

"I just hate the social aspect of the dance more than anything. I saw how happy Hazel has gotten over it and I can't hate it too much if being around Frank makes her happy. Anyone that has ever tried to get me to go, I knew were trying to take advantage of me thinking I'm sweet and innocent and they can convince me to do whatever by waving their eyelashes at me."

"Well, I would never do something like that to you." Will said sheepishly.

"I know and I appreciate that."

"Well, let's think about something positive, like your lessons."

Nico groaned at their mention and Will laughed at his complaining and Nico smiled slightly back. They began to walk to class together and talked about the various things that Will wanted Nico to know. He was making progress in the lessons and Nico was half paying attention to Will when he was thrown a curve ball.

"Hey, how about after school you and I go hang out together?" Will asked.

"What?"

"You and me, it'll be fun. You can even choose where we go."

"Won't the others get mad about us skipping out on them?"

"I have a feeling they won't mind."

"Fine, we'll go."

Nico had no idea as to why he agreed to this as in his mind he immediately thought that this was a date. Even though Will had never said anything of the sort he couldn't shove that thought out of his head for the entire next hour. Even when others got his attention, that thought was always at the back of his mind refusing to be shoved away. It plagued him for the rest of the day until he was about ready to leave and Will was at his locker.

Hazel walked up with Frank and Leo, and was going to wait on all the others to head to the sanctum. It was better to travel together with how things were going than to be separate and risk being killed.

"Ready to go? Hazel asked.

"Actually me and Will won't be joining you guys today." Nico said.

"Why?"

"Me and him are going to hang out this evening."

Hazel smirked, "Ok, but make sure you aren't out too late, we still have school tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah I get it. I'll have my phone and so will Will so if you need anything just call."

Hazel nodded and waited for the others while Nico and Will headed out the doors. Nico was expecting to walk back but Will grabbed him by the arm and lead him to the school's parking lot where he unlocked a car.

"I had no idea you had a car." Nico said.

"I don't use it much, but today was a rare occasion and I thought since I had it we could actually get somewhere faster."

"You planned this, didn't you?"

"Are you mad?"

"I'm mad that you didn't tell me you had a car sooner."

Will smiled and they both dumped their bags in the backseat and got in. Will quickly turned the car on and waited for it to warm up. While winter was ending soon, it was still very cold and snow was not completely gone.

"So, where do you want to go?" Will asked.

"I don't care, you pick something."

Will sat for a moment thinking and then his face brightened.

"I know just the place, but it's like an hour away."

"Where exactly are, we going?"

"A place I use to visit on Long Island."

Nico nodded and Will pulled the car out of park and they began their long trek. It took them nearly half an hour to get out of New York but once they did it was smooth sailing. They didn't talk much on the drive and Nico spent most of his time looking out the window. Before long the sun was setting and the sky had turned a deep red, bordering on black. He didn't realize it but he actually fell asleep in the car and was shaken awake by Will with the car stopped and parked.

"What time is it?" Nico asked.

"A little past six, and were here."

"Where is here exactly?"

"A little diner I use to visit a few years back."

They both got out of the car to a small little hole in the wall diner, with bright neon lights. The sign read Half Blood Diner and Nico had to wonder where on earth they got the name. Will seemed to pick up on Nico's thoughts as he too looked up at the sign.

"They got the name from the old camp that use to run here in the summers, it was shut down a few years ago," Will then leaned in, "It used to be a mage's hideout and training center before it was raided."

Nico looked astonished at him and wondered just how big the place was and how many mages were caught there when it was raided. It was hard to imagine such a huge amount of power in one place being killed off so easily, but from what he had read it took nearly a century to wipe out the entire mage population.

Once they entered the place Nico looked around and noticed the 80's theme that the place held. Leather booths and a chrome finish along with memorabilia from that time frame. There was one other person in the place, and he seemed to be a middle-aged man with black hair, and a deep tan. The other person was a waitress who smiled at them both and walked over with menus in hand.

"Will it's so good to see you again." She said.

"Good to see you too May. I'd like you to meet Nico, he's a new mage."

"Oh, he's so cute. I'm glad you found another one. Do you know who his parents are?" She asked.

"Mortal mom, and Hades is his dad."

She looked at him, "Well, that certainly is new but I'm sure you both will turn out alright. Why don't you sit down and look over the menu while I get you both something to drink?"

"Water for me, Nico?"

"Coke."

She nodded and walked back behind the counter and back into the kitchen. Nico and Will chose a booth near the back and Nico kept looking over at the man in the other booth and he felt that something was off about him. Nico shoved it aside and looked over the menu to try and decide what to eat. When May came back out the man stood and paid for his meal and then began to walk over.

"Uh, Will." Nico said.

Will looked up but the man was already at the table and Nico got a good look at his face. He did in fact have a deep tan and wrinkles around his eyes and mouth as if he smiled a great deal. His shirt had a cheesy Hawaiian print, and he wore Bermuda shorts which made no sense in the middle of February.

"Hi?" Nico said.

"Greetings, Nico. It's nice to finally meet you in person." He said.

"Do I know you?"

"No, but we both know the same person."

"Your Percy's dad, aren't you?" Will asked.

"Guilty as charged."

Will quickly bowed and the man laughed and he looked over at Nico with a look. Nico simply shrugged his shoulders not having any idea as to what was going on.

"Forgive him, Lord Poseidon, he isn't all that well learned in the means of respect."

"Oh, no need to go to such lengths. I just came by to have a meal and I ran into you both. I consider this a very lucky occasion."

"So, if your Percy's dad, do you control water or something like that?" Nico asked.

"I control the oceans, my dear boy. Percy has told me quite a bit about you. So, Hades son? Never thought the son of a bitch had it in him."

"Wait, do all of the gods talk with their children often?"

"No, some do, but most try to keep their distance as it is a spot on their honor." Will explained.

"Piss on honor, Percy is my son and I'll be damned to leave him out to dry."

"Percy has never mentioned you, and come to think of it no one has said anything about their parents other than me." Nico said.

"Nico, some of the others just don't want to talk about their parents." Will said.

"So, I've lost my family and most of them still have theirs and they don't want to talk about it? Their all just wimps in my opinion."

"It seems you too have a great deal to talk about, I'll leave you." Poseidon said.

He vanished in a surge of sea breeze and salt water. Nico then turned his gaze onto Will who simply looked back at him and said nothing. Nico couldn't understand why no one wanted to talk about their families, even though most of them were all fine and happy. It made him angry that those who wanted to be his friends refused to talk about themselves and forced him to delve all his secrets away.

"Nico, you need to understand."

"Understand what? That my so-called friends are fine being happy while I suffer, or force me to talk about something painful while they avoid it?"

Will didn't respond and simply looked down at the table. The two didn't talk through the entire meal and Nico didn't care at that point. He was too angry to really get into anything important, and he needed something to take it out on. Once their meal was over the ride back was quiet and Nico was lost in his thoughts. He hated himself for snapping at Will, when he really wasn't at fault and the fact that Nico had a crush on him. He hated that Will would most likely avoid him now and Nico would lose a friend and potentially something more.

Once he was home he slammed the door shut and avoided any questions that Hazel threw his way. He quickly changed and went to bed, even though he was not able to fall asleep until early in the morning and was exhausted for the next day of school. When he woke up he felt totally drained and wanted nothing more than to just sleep the day away, but he knew Hazel would not allow that to happen.

He dragged himself to get ready and grabbed a simple apple for breakfast and ate it quickly so he wouldn't have to walk with Hazel. He put on his coat, grabbed his bag, and left home. Frank was outside waiting on Hazel as usual and Nico simply ignored him.

"Hey Nico." Frank said.

Nico brushed past him and continued his way to school. The day was cold, with a few snowflakes falling and Nico thought to himself that today complimented his attitude. He was going to try and find Will and apologize for how he treated him, but the others wouldn't receive his mercy. The school loomed ahead and he quickened his pace to get inside as soon as possible. The school was warm and Nico decompressed upon entering, but tightened again when he saw Mitchell once again sitting by his locker.

He walked up, "I thought I made myself very clear yesterday."

"I don't give up easily." Mitchell said.

"More like thick headed."

"So, will you go?"

"No, not with you. Now get lost."

Mitchell smiled and left, making Nico wonder what made him leave so easily. It worried him slightly but Nico shoved it aside and quickly shoved his belongings in his locker, grabbed his books and made his way to class. When he got to class he sat down in his usual spot and opened his notebook, and to his surprise a note sat there with his name on it. IT was in nice neat handwriting and Nico opened it slowly.

 _Nico,_

 _I'm sorry about how last night ended, and I hope I can make it up to you. Please don't be too mad at the others as they all have their reasons. If you want I'll tell you all about my family and my past if that will make you happy. Just meet me by my car after school and I'll explain everything._

 _Will_

Nico read the note over three times and quickly hid it away and thought about what Will had said. He was taking the complete fall for the others and was still willing to level with Nico and be nice to him. It made Nico feel extremely guilty and he stayed silent for most of the day and it seemed the others picked up on his mood and generally didn't ask him anything in their conversations. When the day ended, Nico made his way outside with his bag and walked over to where Will's car was last and luckily it was still there.

Nico waited by the car for a couple of minutes before Will came out the doors and he waved over at Nico. He seemed like everything was fine as he wore his usual smile and when he got there he unlocked the car and threw his bag inside and then stood next to Nico waiting for him to speak first.

"Look, I want to say I'm sorry for how I snapped at you last night, it wasn't your fault." Nico said.

"It's cool, you aren't the first person to react that way. Everybody in the group has their own reasons for remaining secret."

"It's not them remaining secret that I didn't like. It was the fact that they didn't trust me with it, despite me telling them most of my deepest secrets."

"I can get that. When I first learned about my powers I was so mad at my dad for not telling me and then mad at everyone that knew before I did. I felt that it was a huge breach of trust on my part that they thought I couldn't handle the truth about myself."

"Who finally told you?"

"No one told me. I was attacked by a hellhound and found out that way. That's what fed into my anger, is it took a threat on my life for them to finally tell me. That's how most of us found out actually." Will looked over at the school.

Nico could understand their anger, he never had to go through a major threat on his life to push him over. Sure, Khione wanted to kill him, but Nico never really felt like his life was in danger. The others literally had to fight to survive and then found out this huge aspect of themselves that everyone around them knew about. He would've been raging for weeks over something like that.

"I hope were still friends." Nico said.

"Of course, we are, I wouldn't get so angry over something like this."

Nico decided to show his appreciation in a way he rarely ever did. He hugged Will, which caught him by surprise before he felt Will return the hug. Nico held on for a long time and wondered if there was something else that he could do to make it up to Will.

"Will, is there any way I could make this up to you?" Nico mumbled into Will's jacket.

"You don't need to do anything."

"Please, just so I can feel better about myself."

"Go to the dance with me?" Will asked.

Nico looked up at him and then nodded and stayed embraced with Will.

"Yeah, I'll go. Don't expect me to like it."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Will took Nico home and once inside Nico allowed a very rare smile to grace his face and unfortunately it was in front of Hazel.

"What's with the smile?" she asked.

"Oh, um you how there is a dance this weekend."

"Yeah?"

"Well I'm going now."

Hazel didn't skip a beat, "With who?"

"Will."

Hazel smiled, "Finally, you two have one of the most complicated relationships I've ever seen."

"We aren't dating!"

"Might as well be, and tomorrow you and I are going shopping. No way am I going to allow my brother to look trashy for his first dance."

"Fine, but it better not take long."

"You can't rush perfection."

"I'm not looking for perfection."

Hazel only smiled and went back to whatever she was working on and Nico went up to his room to think over his day and see if he couldn't get any magic studying done. He really couldn't concentrate and simply gave up on studying for studying and running through his head all the possibilities the future now held.

 **So this chapter took a lot longer to write than I thought but were getting close to where the plot really get's going. Now I have a great deal of ideas of how this story will progress and I can see that some of them will not make very many of you happy, but they are great story telling points. We will get to see Nico and Will start to get really close soon and you'll all get the relationship within the next few chapters. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	7. Chapter 7

Nico had spent nearly all day freaking out over what was to occur tomorrow and just how unprepared he was for it. Hazel had drug him out for shopping and it took them near on three hours before she was satisfied with what he was going to where. News of the incident spread through the group and eventually school like wildfire and that caused a lot more pain than Nico thought. Among the group, it was just harmless teasing but with the rest of the school it was borderline hatred, and Octavian had grown bold again with his bullying.

Though most of it Nico could handle a few times it left him in pain of the floor and he didn't tell anyone what was happening. Not only did he not want Will to worry, he also didn't want to feel guilty that he caused this to happen to him. Nico shoved his books in his locker and grabbed his lunch and made his way, hoping that today he would be spared any looks. He hadn't planned to come out to the whole school in such a way, or rather in any way.

He sat down by himself at the table he always sat at, and after a few minutes he wondered if anyone was going to join him. Will sat next to him first and he smiled at him as much as he could, given the circumstances. Nico didn't say anything as he feared of screwing up with how nervous he was, Percy joined soon after and one by one they all joined.

Will leaned over, "So I heard about your little shopping spree with Hazel."

"Don't remind me, we were out for nearly three hours. I didn't think it was going to be that long."

"You can't rush perfection."

"Hardly perfection, but Hazel wants me to look good for whatever reason. I couldn't really care, it's just a simple dance."

"True, it's only a dance, but I think you should dress a little nicer," Will leaned close, "But I think your already perfect."

Nico's face turned a bright red and he realized that most of the table had gone quiet and was looking at him and Will.

"What are you all looking at?" Nico snapped.

They all went back to their conversations and Nico glared at all of them. Nico looked down at his meager meal and suddenly didn't feel hungry at all and decided to look around the room. Octavian and Khione were staring at him as usual, but the odd one out was Mitchell who seemed to have a hungry look in his eyes. Nico glared at him and Mitchell smirked and then turned back to his table. Nico returned his gaze back to his meal and he noticed Will looking at him.

"I have a feeling he isn't done yet." Will commented.

"What gave it away?" Nico said sarcastically.

"It could have been several things, your cute smile, your adorable stare, or maybe your all-around awesomeness." Will said straight faced.

That made Nico blush furiously, and look at his hands. He never thought of himself as that way but apparently, that was Will's exact opinion of him. When lunch ended, Will walked Nico back to his locker without saying anything, but once there, Will grabbed him by the arm. Will had a very serious face about him.

"You read that book on monsters, right?" he asked.

"Most of it, why?"

"Something about Mitchell is giving me a weird vibe. I'm not all that powerful and can't really sense monster presence like Percy could, but no one would beat you. If you can try to read him and see if anything throws you off about him. Try not to let him be aware of it, because we don't want to expose ourselves if he isn't"

"I'll try, but I'm not good at this magic thing yet so I can't promise anything."

"The fact that you're going to try is enough."

Will hugged Nico and walked off to his next class leaving Nico to his thoughts. For the past couple of days Will had been touchier than before and Nico supposed it was because of the dance. Nico simply went along with it and if he was speaking honestly it made his stomach get full of butterflies and made him hope that one day they could be more. It was a nice dream and he rarely thought about it, let alone tell anyone about it. Whenever he was around Piper, however she would always smile at him as if she knew something he didn't and it pissed him off.

The rest of the day went along just like usual and the group met up at the sanctum with Chiron for a rundown of tomorrow. Afterwards Nico would be given a joint lesson by Percy, and Will about weapons which he was excited for.

"So, for this weekend we are all going to be on high alert. We already know that Lucifer's minion, Khione has infiltrated the school. There could be other gods, or demons hiding among the students so I will allow you to carry your weapons with you. Now get on with your lessons." Chiron said.

Will motioned Nico over and Percy stood there holding a golden pen in his hand while Will had no weapon at all. He looked at both of them confused and they both simply smiled.

"I thought we were training with weapons?" he asked.

"We are." Percy said.

He clicked the pen and suddenly it transformed into a bronze sword. Nico was surprised to say the least and took a step back at he swung it around.

"So, weapons can be hidden two ways. One is you have it as some other ordinary object, like a pen. Jason's is a coin and there are other options like a ring, or a necklace, or a bracelet. I chose a pen, because I thought it was simply, turns out I would lose it a lot so I added another enchantment to have it always return to me."

"What about the other way?" Nico asked.

"Will?"

Will nodded and moved his arms into a firing position and a bow, arrow, and quiver appeared in a flash of golden light. Will smirked and winked at Nico before firing and landing three bull's ,eyes. Nico looked absolutely astonished and looked at him wondering how on earth he did something like that.

"The other way is if you have runes put on your body, that allow you to store the weapon on you without anyone seeing it." Will said.

He pulled his shirt over and Nico had a hard time ignoring the extremely toned body, but all over his upper body were tattoos. Some were simply pictures, but others were words in Latin that must've allowed him to hide his bow and arrows.

"So, this is a little more complicated than a sword as it requires three parts, but it's the same concept. It's all what you want to do. Frank is the only other person who has the tattoos for the weapon. Most seem comfortable with just an object."

"How would the tattoo work?"

"It's not all that complicated, all you need to do is have someone engrave the writings and then from there all you need to do is concentrate on the weapon and it will appear for you."

"I think I'll go with the tattoos, I don't trust myself with a simple object."

Percy laughed, "How's that?"

"I feel like I'll set it somewhere, forget that it's the weapon and destroy something by accident."

Percy laughed and patted his shoulder but walked away to go wail on a dummy for a few minutes. Nico turned back to Will who had put his shirt back on and the bow and arrow had disappeared.

"C'mon, we'll go see Annabeth."

They both went up to the library and found that two of the L.A. kids were talking with Malcolm and were engrossed into something.

"Who are those two?" Nico asked.

"That's Dakota, and Gwen. They've been staying here and should join us at school next week." Will said.

"Oh." Was all Nico said.

"I'll go find Annabeth."

Will disappeared into the shelves of books and Nico walked over to an empty table. Dakota kept looking over at him and soon it started to get on Nico's nerves. Nico sighed after a couple minutes of the stares and walked over.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Nico asked.

Dakota had an open mouth while Gwen's eyes simply widened. Malcolm nodded at Nico and he nodded back and waited for an answer. After a minute of an empty gaze Dakota closed his mouth and swallowed.

"I heard you were the son of Hades." he said quietly.

"I am, and your point is?"

"I just wanted to say hello. It's super cool to see that you are actually real."

"Cool, now I have things to do, so keep your eyes to yourself."

Nico walked back over to his table and Will came around the corner with Annabeth and he sat down.

"So, I heard you wanted the tattoos for your sword?" she asked.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"I don't know how to do them that well but I can find the book and get the paint you'll need, but its Will who will have to write them on."

"Fine." Nico said.

She nodded and walked off and Will turned to him looking expectantly.

"What?" Nico asked.

"Your shirt, take it off."

"What?!"

"I can't paint the markings on you with your shirt on, so c'mon take it off."

Nico slowly took off his shirt and made sure to avoid eye contact feeling very self-conscious about his own body. It wasn't nearly as toned as Will's and to be honest Nico was a walking stick. Will looked at him and then grew an extremely angry look which he had never seen on Will before.

"What?" Nico asked.

"What is that?"

Nico looked down and saw the huge purple and green spot on his side and he looked away.

"I'm waiting?" Will said.

"It just came from Octavian a few days ago, nothing to worry about."

"Nico, you can't just let yourself get hurt and not tell anyone. There are those that care deeply about you."

"Really, like who?"

"Me."

Nico stared at Will and Annabeth walked back in with the paint seemingly oblivious to the discussion they were having. She set the paint down and then left, nodding to Will.

"Wait, isn't she going to put the paint on?"

"No, Annabeth doesn't know how to do it, seeing as she just hides her knife in her jeans most of the time. I'm really the only one who knows how."

"Ok."

Nico laid down and he was very tense about Will touching him for a long period of time. He put his head on his arms and stared intently at the wall waiting for the process to start so it could be over as quickly as possible.

"Nico, you need to relax. It's just paint I'm not going to do anything."

Nico nodded and sighed deeply and he then felt Will's hands on his back. His first thought was that his hands were extremely warm and had a very soothing feel to them. The next thought was that Will was touching him and Nico was doing everything to not freak out over the close contact. He could feel the paint brush on his back and he thought it slightly tickled and then suddenly he was thrown back to a snow-covered street.

Nico breathed in quickly and was back at the library but could see flashes of that dreadful day. He hated having to think of that day again, as it was the most painful in his entire life. It was the day that he lost both his mother and his sister in one fell swoop.

"Nico, your resisting the magic, I need to you to let go." Will said.

"No, I refuse to relive that day."

"What are you talking about?"

"If I tell you, you have to swear to never tell another soul." Nico warned.

"I promise."

"It's not a day I like to remember."

Nico was just barely seven at the time and it was around the same time of year that it was now. He and his family had just left his grandparents' house after a nice dinner, considering Nico's dad was gone for the week yet again. It was snowing lightly and the wind was beginning to pick up as the storm rolled in. Bianca was asleep up in the front seat and he simply gazed out the window.

He had no idea how it happened but all of a sudden, the car jerked and started to swerve to the right and then left. Before he knew what was going on the car flipped and was on the side of the road stuck on a nearby tree. Everything looked around, and everything was hazy and slowly coming into focus.

"Nico!" someone yelled.

"Bianca?" He asked.

"Yes, Nico are you ok?"

"I think so, what about Mom?"

"She'll be ok, I need you to see if you can't get out."

Nico nodded and moved for the door, his seatbelt was torn and he wiggled free. The door flew open once he put enough force behind it. He staggered out and almost fell when he put weight on his left leg. He gritted through the pain and made his way over the Bianca and tried to open the door, but he could barely move his right arm. He looked into the car, and his mother was face down over the wheel and seemed to not be moving. He looked to Bianca, hoping she could figure something out.

"Nico, I need you to focus." She said.

"Ok."

"We past a house a little way back, go and try to find help."

"No, I won't leave you!" he yelled.

"I need you to be strong. I'll be ok, just go find help and come right back."

"I'll go, but just stay safe."

Nico sighed, Will had stopped painting and was listening intently.

"So, I ran, or went as fast as I could. I ran for near on two miles before I came across a house and beat down the door. Luckily, they were home, and they called the authorities. That's when I passed out, and I would later find out that my mother died on impact and Bianca went missing. Her door was open and there were bloody drag marks off into the forest where they ended. She was presumed lost and dead, and I was in a coma for near on two months.

"When I woke up they broke the news slowly and I couldn't remember if I had ever felt that lost in my life. I had a dislocated shoulder, several fractures in my leg, severe nerve damage all over my body and had a severe concussion. My dad stayed with me all during that time, and I had to do a month of rehab after I could finally walk. That was also where I got my amazing memory from. They told me that severe head injuries rewire the brain in crazy ways."

Nico stopped and could feel himself crying, it had been years since he had cried and he hated himself when he did. He sat up, not caring whether Will had finished or not and rubbed his face dry.

"That's not all, after a couple of years my dad left and I was sent into the foster system. It was the worst hell. I was a ten-year-old kid who couldn't speak English, and didn't know how to work that well in social situations. They picked on me, beat me up, and they even tried to rape me at one point. Luckily, the caretaker, Hestia took good care of me and filled the mother role for me for those couple of years until Hazel found me."

Nico smiled sadly to himself at those memories and let himself cry, and he did something he never thought he would do ever. He held out his arms, asking for a hug and Will obliged and Nico held onto him for dear life. Will rubbed his back soothingly and Nico couldn't have asked for something better. After a minute or two he backed away and brought himself together after that huge explosion of emotion.

"So, do you still need to finish with the paint?" Nico asked.

"No, I'm done, all you need to do is to tie the sword to the enchantment." Will said.

Nico put on his shirt and grabbed the sword and handed it to Nico, he quickly put a symbol on the hilt and it disappeared.

"Now, reached over your shoulder and act like your drawing your sword." He said.

Nico did as Will said and sure enough his sword appeared in his hands and Nico swung it around in a few practice moves. He then put it back over his shoulder and the sword disappeared and he smiled.

"Thanks." Nico said.

"No problem, and it should work unless you remove the paint, and don't worry the paint will only come off a certain way, showers won't affect it."

Nico nodded and hopped back down to the floor and moved to leave to get back to his lesson with Percy, hoping to get in a few new moves before he went home for the day. He was stopped by Will grabbing his arm.

"Hey, I know what you told me wasn't easy, but if it makes you feel better I'll tell you something about myself."

"Ok."

Nico waited for Will to say something but instead of talking, Will grabbed Nico by the back of the neck and kissed him. It caught Nico completely off guard and at first his eyes went wide before he gave in, shut his eyes, and returned the kiss. For a few amazing seconds, Nico didn't think and simply enjoyed the moment before someone cleared their throat and ruined to atmosphere.

"Just wanted to let you know that you still have sword practice, Nico." Percy said.

Nico nodded and Percy winked and walked back towards the stairs and Nico returned his gaze back up at Will.

"So…" Will said.

"So, that was certainly something." Nico returned.

"Yeah, so where does this leave us?"

"Well we certainly can't be friends anymore."

"Oh?" Will looked concerned.

"Yeah, I hope that it means that were more than friends.

"Oh." Will smiled.

"So?"

"Boyfriends?" Will asked sheepishly.

"I would think so."

Will leaned down and kissed him again and for a small amount of time Nico actually felt happy. It was so strange after suffering for years to suddenly feel so happy and Nico couldn't care at all what was happening around him. Will pulled back and grabbed Nico's hands.

"Alright, go get those sword lessons done before Percy drags you down there."

"Fine, but, tomorrow right?"

"I would hope so, it would be pretty shitty to back out on my now."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Nico ran down the stairs and got right into training as if nothing had happened. Every now and then he would get a smile and a knowing look from Percy and Nico would simply roll his eyes and get right back to work. Before long most had left and Nico decided to call it a night as he had a long day ahead of him. He said goodbye to Will and walked back home by himself and once their collapsed into bed and for once he felt happy.

His alarm shook him out of his deep sleep and he dragged himself out of bed and stumbled downstairs for something to eat. Hazel was already down their eating a bowl of cereal and smirked as he got himself a bowl.

"So, Nico is there something you want to tell me?" she asked.

"Um, hi?" he asked confused.

"A little bird told me, you and Will had a heart to heart."

"Yeah, I told him about how my mom and sister died."

Hazels face soured slightly, "Is that all?"

"What are you getting at?"

"Percy told me about your intimate moment."

Nico's face flushed and Hazel smiled widely.

"It was about time, Will only talked about you and it was starting to get annoying."

"I didn't know."

"Well of course you didn't, but I'm glad you two got together, it will make tonight all that much better."

Nico nodded and ate the rest of his breakfast in silence and Hazel left to start getting ready for the dance. Frank told her he would be around at three and Will said he would swing by at about the same time. Nico wouldn't get ready for a few more hours as he didn't have nearly as much to get ready. He mostly just surfed the web and watched videos until it was about one in the afternoon before he finally started to get ready.

He took a nice warm shower and put on the black pants, black shirt and a black tie. He threw on the ring and checked to see if the sword would work and luckily it didn't tear his shirt and still appeared in his hand. Will showed up before Frank in the all black except for his yellow tie and sat down on the couch. Hazel came down next in an all gold dress with two inch heels and had tame her curls slightly and making them larger.

In Nico's opinion she looked amazing, and he was happy that she could have these moments of feeling amazing. Frank showed up not much later and they all traveled together to the sanctum where they had a nice dinner of pizza. Percy matched Annabeth's grey dress with his grey tie and wore the blue ring as always. Annabeth had moved her ring onto the necklace she had with a small metal owl that Percy got her last year. Piper wore a dark purple dress and Jason matched with a purple shirt and a black tie. Reyna and Leo went together as they were both single and they did not match.

Leo had a crimson shirt with a black tie and Reyna wore a silver dress and heels and Nico had never seen her dressed so nicely before. They all laughed and enjoyed the meal they had together and Nico had a tough time remembering a time where he was this happy. Will was behind him and Nico leaned against him and he had friends. His mother would have been proud of how he changed and maybe his father too, but who knew if he even watched him anymore.

About half an hour before the dance they all walked to the school and light snow started. Will pulled him close and kept his arm around him and all Nico did was smile at him. The dance had just started when they arrived and Will and Nico received a few looks but nothing major. That is until they ran into Drew and Khione, who had Octavian, Ethan, and now Bryce in tow.

"You two are disgusting." Drew said.

"Just because we like each other doesn't mean were disgusting. Honestly the more disgusting thing is you not accepting it." Will threw back.

Drew was speechless, "It just isn't natural." Khione said.

"Whatever, just avoid us if you can't deal with it."

Khione glared but left with her group and went to the other side of the dance hall. They found a place and dropped off their stuff and the girls took off their heels.

"Agree to meet back here before we had back to my place?" Hazel said.

"Yeah, try to be here before the dance is over." Percy said.

After that they all went their separate ways and Nico and Will actually went out onto the dance floor and decided to enjoy themselves. They danced to the music and after a little while they were both sweating since being stuck in all the bodies. Nico tapped Will and they both left the crowd to cool off and get some water.

"I hope they play a slow song soon, those were always my favorite." Will said.

"That's because you're a hopeless romantic."

"But you like it?"

"Please." Nico joked.

Will snorted and ran off to the bathroom while Nico got some much-needed water. Nico stood there alone waiting on Will and finished his water when Mitchell came up to him.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a couple minutes?" he asked.

"Fine, but make it quick I don't want to ditch my date."

"Oh, don't worry I'll be quick."

Mitchell had a weird glint in his eyes and Nico was suddenly on edge. They went back into an empty hallway and Nico stayed near the door while Mitchell had his back to him and looked out the window.

"Ever since I first met you I knew there was something special about you." He started.

"Ok."

"I tried my best to get you, but the others found you first. But I didn't give up."

"If this is about Will then you can forget about it, I'm not leaving him."

"It is but it isn't. It's about so much more."

Nico slowly moved back a step and began to reach for his sword.

"My master has always looked for new recruits and you are what he has been looking for. A being unable to feel the touch of death and has the ability to rip entire cities apart."

Nico drew his sword and Mitchell laughed at him.

"What do you want?" Nico said.

"For you to know your true master. For you to unleash your true ability."

He turned and moved faster than Nico could blink. He pinned him against the wall and held both his arms far away. His eyes burned red with fire and his teeth had turned to fangs. Not only that but his skin turned extremely dark, to almost a black, charred color, as if he had been burned. Mitchell then smiled and showed off his sharpened teeth.

"See what my master can provide, power, and abilities beyond what simple magic can grant. All you need to do is swear yourself to him and all your wants will be filled."

"No, I've been down a dark path before and I refuse to give up all that I've got."

Nico then shoved him back and held his sword level at him. Mitchell snarled and moved quickly, around Nico's defense and slashed his arms with claws he had no idea even existed. Nico hissed in pain but retaliated with a few strong swings and parried the other swipes. His anger grew and he swiped at nothing but air as Mitchell dodged him. Finally, Nico snapped and reached out with all his fury and the shadows responded and wrapped Mitchell up in a cage of shadow.

"There it is, the power I knew you held." Mitchell said.

"Nico!"

Will burst in and his eyes widened at the scene before him and he had Percy and Jason in tow. Nico held his hand up and they stopped and Mitchell smirked at all of them.

"You think you all untouchable, but my master knows you're here and he knows you're the only ones left. Soon his fist will come crashing down upon you and all of your hope will blow up into you faces. He will find you in the fields, in the desert, in the mountains, and on the coast. He will corner you and you will face your demons and those you thought you buried. On that day, my master shall tear down the world and build a new order from which all the world will tremble from."

Mitchell then burst into hot flames and vanished and they were left with a deep and sinister laugh.

 **So, major events happening in the future and things will start getting tough for our characters as the pieces are moved into place. I gave a little background on Nico and finally gave you the Will and Nico moment that you all wanted. Don't expect things to get happy as a little warning, this is one of if not the happiest chapter in the entire story. So, things will be getting dark and you will all be in for one hell of a ride. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	8. Chapter 8

They all stood in Chiron's office, all relatively stunned at what they had witnessed. Will was fussing over Nico's arm and his shirt was ruined by all the slashes. Nico didn't know what to think of what Mitchell had told them. He had half a mind not to believe anything that he said, but it all sounded so real that he couldn't just ignore it.

"This is unprecedented and we need to be cautious. They know were here and it is only a matter of time before they act." Chiron said.

"Good thing I just finished working on the security system on the sanctum." Leo commented.

"Not helping." Annabeth snapped.

"Hey, I'll try and make sure everything is all right and try to give you guys some toys to help you out, but it may take a couple of days."

"Alright, Leo will work on safety measures, but for the time being we need to stay together. We already know that Khione is in the school and it is unclear if those around her also serve her master." Chiron charged ahead.

"Well, their clearly after Nico." Will said.

"Yes, and there is only part of a reason as to why. His power is obviously something they desperately want, but why and to what end? These are the real questions."

"Is everyone going to ignore all the things that Mitchell said?" Nico butted in.

"Well it isn't exactly happy." Leo joked.

"Still, what he said isn't to be taken lightly, I'll try to figure anything out from what he said but I can't promise anything." Annabeth said.

"I know you can, but while she digs through the books, Jason and I will be stepping up everyone's combat training." Percy said.

"Agreed, and no one under any circumstances is to go anywhere alone, were all under high alert." Jason added.

The meeting continued one for a few more minutes before everyone went back to the dancing hall to gather their things to leave. Will was satisfied with Nico's arm and allowed him to walk back, though he kept him within a one-step distance. Once back everyone waited and talked among themselves, even though the dance was still in full swing.

"So, are we still having the hang out tonight?" Hazel asked.

"I don't see why we can't, just because were threatened doesn't mean we have to change out entire lives." Percy said.

"Cool, I just wanted to make sure." She smiled.

They all left together and Nico held onto Will's hands for some sort of consistency. The last forty-eight hours had been very stressful and had pushed his mental and emotion limits. Everyone had split off into their couples and were walking slowly back, still trying to process the night. Will would look at Nico worriedly every now and then and Nico appreciated the concern. Once back to their house everyone changed quickly and went down to the living room and proceeded to fill all of the chairs and couches that were down there.

They spent the next several hours watching movies and quietly talking to each other. They slowly began to fall asleep one by one and Nico watched it all, to high strung to get any sleep. Will was rubbing his arm and waited for him to talk and Nico couldn't have asked for anything else.

"Why don't you get some sleep." Will said.

"I'm fine."

"No, your hurt and you need to get some sleep."

Nico sighed and got up and went up to his room, and Will followed. Once in the room Will shut the door behind them and Nico gave him a quizzical look.

"What are you doing?" Nico asked.

"Going to get some sleep, what else?"

Nico simply ignored him and laid down in bed and Will followed him, laying down behind him. Nico felt extremely uncomfortable until Will wrapped his arms around him and pulled him back. For the first time and many years Nico actually felt comfortable and relaxed into Will's hold, and not soon after sleep took him.

The next few days were hectic as the group began to prepare for a full-scale attack by the enemy's forces, who was led by some mystery figure. Nico's fighting was limited until he healed and he watched as others got their asses handed to them by Percy and Jason. Nico kept his eye out and once school started up again that Monday they all noticed that Mitchell was back. Not only that but had taken up with Khione's group which had grown in numbers.

First it was simply her and Drew Tanaka, but then Octavian and Ethan Nakamura joined them as well. Now it included Mitchell, Bryce, and this new kid named Luke Castellan. They avoided them at all costs as a confrontation would result in something that they were not prepared for. Octavian still messed with Nico, but now there was nothing that Nico could do about it and he hated every single second of it. The only thing that made the days bearable was Will, and his constant attention. He seemed to be able to read Nico's mood and make him feel better, no matter the situation.

After school that Wednesday both Nico and Will were holding hands and walking towards the sanctum and were silent.

"So, I heard that Octavian gave you more grief today." Will said.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Nico replied.

"You do realize you don't have to handle it by yourself."

"Yes, but he hasn't said anything that I can't take. You don't need to worry yourself."

"I still worry, because I care about you Nico. Just promise me if you ever need help or need to talk you'll come to me."

"Fine."

Will smiled brightly and they entered the sanctum to find Hazel and Piper sparring with each other while Percy and Jason looked on. Leo was up a floor and was tinkering with some metal rings and coils, most likely another crazy invention. Annabeth was not coming in today and Frank had family matters to take care of, but as usual the two from L.A. were there as they had nowhere else to go.

Will left Nico down on the first floor and he continued to watch to match and Percy moved over to talk to him.

"It's nice to see you and Will getting along so well." Percy said.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, it's just that the both of you deserve to be happy."

Nico sighed and nodded, turning his attention back to the match which had ended in a draw. Jason was talking to the both of them about whatever they needed to improve upon.

"I want to try something today." Percy said.

"What did you have in mind?"

"It's something that only a few have managed but I think you can handle it."

"Well let's see if your right."

They both took to the sparring pit and Percy at first just went through some basic sword fighting and it seemed that Percy couldn't get a hit on him. Whenever his sword would get close shadows would respond and harden around the contact area and prevent the sword from landing.

"That's just what I thought. After your fight with Mitchell, I wanted to see if it would still work. Now I'm certain you can do it."

"Do what?"

"Teleportation, or in your case shadow travel."

"How is that even possible?"

"Usually it isn't but since you're so powerful you can handle the strain. What you need to do is to concentrate on a place to go, and have that location clear in your mind. Once you have it you pull the shadows to you and have it pull you to that place. Since it's very taxing were going to start easy and just have you go across the room."

"So, just imagine the other side of the room and I should get pulled there?"

"In theory, but be careful not to get lost in the power as it is very tempting and you could get lost in the shadows."

Nico nodded and looked at the other side of the room and imagined going there. He felt a huge pull in his gut and it felt as if the world bent around him as he was suddenly facing the wall on the opposite side of the room. The huge rush left him and he felt slightly dizzy and braced himself up against the wall.

"You did it!" Percy yelled.

"That felt different." Nico commented.

"What on earth are you two doing?!" Will yelled.

Nico turned quickly and simply shrugged while Percy looked like he had been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"I was teaching Nico how to shadow travel." Percy said quietly.

"Do you realize how dangerous that is?!"

"Will, its fine. It just made me feel a little strange that's all." Nico said.

"Nico, shadow travel is for advanced mages and even then, there is always the danger or losing yourself to the shadows."

"That's a little overexaggerated." Percy said.

"Not when it comes to something like this. All magic comes at a price and the cost of shadow travel is dangerously high."

Will stormed back upstairs and Nico looked over to Percy who simply shrugged. Nico sighed and slowly went after Will, up to the library. Nico found him reading various books and looked rather angry and Nico sighed to himself.

"What is the matter Will?" Nico asked.

"Nothing."

"Well obviously it is something otherwise you would be your usual cheerful self."

"It's the fact that Percy had you try that with no regard to your safety or the possible things that could have happened if something went wrong." Will said quietly.

"Will, I'm fine and it's not like I'm traveling to Ohio or something."

Will sighed deeply and didn't respond and that led to Nico essentially sitting in Will's lap to get his attention. Nico laid his head on Will's shoulder and he could faintly hear his heart beat, a slow and strong beat.

"I just don't like you putting yourself in such danger, especially what happened after the dance." Will finally said.

"Will, I'm not some damn flower, and I can choose where to put myself at risk. I know you don't like that but with the way these days seem to be going putting myself at risk is inevitable."

Will sighed deeply, "I know it just bothers me, I care alright."

"I know you do."

"Alright back to your practicing, as far as I can tell you still suck at fighting." Will joked.

"Still better than you." Nico kissed Will's cheek and made his way back down the stairs.

Jason and Percy were going at it and it seemed as if it was some elegant dance. Percy was much faster than Jason, but Jason hit much harder and both knew how to throw in magic like it was a second language. Eventually Jason stumbled and Percy got in a couple of quick jabs and son Jason was on his back with Percy's sword at his throat.

"Nice one." Jason said panting.

"Same trick I always use and you keep falling for it." Percy jabbed.

He helped Jason up and they both laughed. Nico wondered how long they had known each other, and how they came to be such close friends. Nico never had any friends that were that close mostly because he was either too young to remember or his life had gone to shit by the time he could. Nico looked down at the ring that his father had left and wondered why he had let Nico suffer for so long without ever trying to help.

It made him bitter, and he turned his mind away from it not wanting to revisit that rabbit hole. Nico spent the next hour sparring with Percy and trying to throw in offensive magic wherever he could. It didn't usually end well and Percy came out on top every single time, but Nico felt like he got a few good licks in with every fight.

"I don't know how you do it." Percy said after a long spar.

"What do you mean?" Nico asked panting.

"How you block so many of my swipes even without lifting your sword or see them coming."

"What?" Nico asked dumbfounded.

Percy then swung at him and before Nico could react the sword aimed for his neck but before it could ever strike the blade stopped midair. The sword was stuck in a murky black wall that had formed a few inches from his neck and held the sword firm. He saw the effort Percy was putting on the strike and the more he put on the stronger the barrier seemed to get. He eventually backed away and the shield faded away and Percy was panting again from effort.

"I have no idea what that is." Nico admitted.

"You have more tricks up your sleeves than you even realize." Percy joked.

Nico huffed and sheathed his sword and rolled his shoulders. He was tired and sore from all the fighting he had done the past few days and simply wanted a break, and from what he could tell others wanted a break as well. However, with the times, it seemed that most everyone was putting off a little rest in order to prepare for what came next. Annabeth hardly slept these days with all the studying she was doing for new spells to learn or for old ones to bring back.

Nico gathered his things and walked home, alone watching around him and making sure he wasn't followed. Percy and Jason warned that they may be followed to determine what their routines were to coordinate an attack. Piper thought they were being paranoid, but after an afternoon of being followed by some man in a black coat her complaints stopped. Most of them were followed nowadays, and seemed the only one they were afraid to set someone on was Nico.

Either they thought he was not significant enough to waste resources on, which he doubted, or he was too powerful to put some low life on his tail. Percy had already killed two demons who had tailed him for two hours and sent a third running, and Jason had found a small hideout that they were using to set up a new base nearby. While they were victories, they were small ones and hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things and probably only annoyed them.

Once home Nico set his bag down and laid out on his bed and sighed deeply. He was really tired but still had a lot more work to do, not only for school but he also had more spells to learn in order to catch up for all the years he apparently missed out on. He opened the mystical beasts book as he always enjoyed that one the most and flipped to the pages about Direwolves as he always he found interesting. He read about dragons and drakons which were apparently two very different things. He saw pages about Hydras, which were one of the most dangerous things out there, as well as giants which were angered easily.

He always came back to the phoenix for some reason as he felt it was important and reread the information he had committed to memory at this point. They were the rarest beasts of them all and could command more magic than even some of the gods and goddesses. They lived forever and burned up to be born again, but they could heal unlike anything else and were the hardest things to find. Often their feathers were used to bring the dead back to life, and were also put into weapons to give them extraordinary power. He would want to see one of them before he died though that prospect was unlikely, given there was a high chance of death now.

Nico shut the book and set it aside and laid back on his bed and looked at the ceiling thinking about all the things that had happened recently to bring him to this point. He then felt his phone vibrating and pulled it out to find Will calling him, which while sweet, Nico didn't appreciate at the moment.

"What Will?" Nico asked when he answered.

"Well someone seems to have gotten my mood from earlier." Will teased.

"Piss off."

"Come on, what's wrong?"

"Just tired."

"I can understand, but I know what can get you mood up." Will teased.

"What?"

"How about you and I go out some time this week, just us."

Nico sat up, "That doesn't sound terrible. When were you thinking about going out?"

"Tomorrow?" Will asked unsure.

"I have nothing planned. So, maybe I would be willing to withstand your presence." Nico smirked.

"And I would tolerate you as well."

"So, tomorrow?"

"You eager to hang up or something?"

They talked for another two hours and Nico eventually had to hang up as he kept telling Will that he had work to do even though it didn't matter. His grades had never fallen so far as for him to ever worry about anything, but it still felt good to be accomplished. He went to sleep that night feeling sore and tired but less upset than he had been when he had gotten home.

The next day he dragged himself out of bed and to school, hurting everywhere and wanting nothing more than to just stay in bed for the entire day. He fell asleep in his first class and barley stayed awake for the second one and luckily a few people around him woke him up before anyone caught him.

It was another boring day and Nico wanted nothing more than for it to just be over so he could spend time with Will and get some rest. Percy and Jason had practically run everyone into the ground at this point and everyone was super tired and sore but they all knew it was for the better. It was better to face a little pain now than be dead in a few days. They watched everyone in the school nowadays, not knowing who served who in reality.

When the bell rang at the end of the day Nico sighed in relief and slowly walked out of the building. He was suddenly hugged from behind when on the outside steps and someone was laughing as they did so.

"Guess who?" Will teased.

"Um, Percy?" Nico shot back.

Will came around and almost looked offended, "You really think that much of him?"

"No, stupid."

"Oh, good."

Will kissed him and Nico smiled excited for what the evening held for him. They both walked out to Will's car with Will having an arm around Nico and Nico looking down at the ground smiling all the while.

"So, what do you have planned?" Nico asked.

"Oh, lots of fun, but I can't tell you it all, that would ruin the surprise." Will said.

They both went back to Nico's house and relaxed for a little while there and to also keep warm as the days were still cold. When they decided to leave there was a light snow and the sky was a light grey which cast a lovely glow on the snow that had already fallen. They walked the streets in relative silence staying close to stay warm against the cold.

Will surprised Nico with a nice meal at some fancy restaurant that Nico had never heard of and what ticked him off was the fact that Will paid for everything and wouldn't hear it from Nico. Nico had to admit it was nice having someone pamper him, especially spending so long on his own. Once the meal was over Will took him to Central Park and they walked for a long time without saying a word until Will stopped him in the center of the park. The trees no longer blocked the skyscrapers, but for the most part they were still hidden.

"Wait here and close your eyes." Will said.

Nico smirked but put his hands over his face and waited for a moment before he felt warm hands on his pulling them down. What he saw took his breath away. Will had covered the area in a fine layer of snow and had put small balls of light into the air giving the area a nice golden glow. The snow shimmered and the air seemed to be filled with this light and warmth that made Nico fell right at home.

"So, do you like it?" Will asked.

"Will, I…I love it," Nico turned to Will, "I love you."

Will looked absolutely stunned but then smiled, kissed him and said, "I love you too."

They stayed together in that little clearing for a long time, Nico lost track after a while and he really didn't care on how long it was. All he wanted to do was stay with Will and be by his side. Their evening was ruined by a message from Percy who said that Chiron had wanted all of them at the sanctum for something important. Most of them had already arrived and they were waiting on them.

Will and Nico left the park with much trepidation and for Nico, disappointment. They walked slowly trying to get as much as they could out their last moments that they could before the night was ruined completely. The sun had finally set and the night was getting rather cold and the snow had started to pick up rather drastically and it was getting hard to see. They made it to the ally though, despite the weather, and they saw Jason finally get inside after seeing them. They reached just shy of the door when the whole building exploded.

Nico and Will were thrown back hard and the ability to hear was taken away. Nico laid there on the ground for a few minutes trying to get himself back into reality. When his hearing returned he heard screams and fire and sirens blaring loudly. The whole city would be on lock down after this and Nico and Will were lucky to be alive.

He slowly got up and saw that most of the building was still on fire and he rushed over to Will who was struggling to get up a few feet away. The snow was coming down hard and the wind was blowing harshly and Nico wondered where to go or what to do next.

"You survived, how lovely." A voice said.

Nico turned and found Khione standing there in a nice white dress with snowflakes for earrings and a wicked smile on her face. Nico stood defending Will and drew his sword and could barely hold it steady as he was fighting the sudden pain in his side he must have taken when the building went up.

"You know, when I first met you I would've never of thought of you being such an important person. You were just another play thing to me, but my master has such plans for you that I can't let you leave or die just yet." Khione smirked.

She sent a gale of snow and ice at Nico which pushed him to the ground, but he staggered back up to his feet and leveled his sword. Khione smiled fully this time and the snow and wind picked up around them as she showed her true strength.

"Mortals believe that the world is warming as part of their actions alone. While that is true to an extent, I control the cold in the end. When my master deems it time, I will unleash the power of winter upon the world whenever I chose and will bring their world to its knees."

"Nico, take us and run." Will groaned on the ground.

"I don't know if I can do that!"

"You can, just get us going and I'll take us to a safe place."

Nico bolted for Will and grabbed onto him and concentrated on the shadows taking him away from here, from this horror. Khione screamed in outrage and moved faster than the eye could see and charged. In a flash Nico and Will plunged into darkness.

 **So, there is an explination as to why this chapter took so long. I was working at a summer camp from May to August and school has now started up so these take a little long to write out as I have a lot of other things to worry about. This is also the end of essentially the arc of the story and we will enter the next part in the next chapter. If you have questions about a certain character's fate, wait until the next chapter and it will be explained as we delve deeper into the story. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


	9. Chapter 9

Nico woke up on a bed and he was entirely confused as to where he was, how he got there, and why he was there in the first place. His head felt heavy and he was still in the clothes that he last remembered being in, minus the coat which sat on the floor next to his bed. The door to the room was shut and Nico had to wonder what was happening. He slowly got out of bed and after fighting off the dizziness, he moved over to the window and looked out to find wide open fields and a few houses dotting the ground.

He saw that it had just recently snowed and thin layer of white covered the ground and Nico wondered just how long he had been asleep. He stumbled to the door and opened it to find that it was nearly silent in the house. He leaned against the wall as he moved down the hallway and he passed a couple of doors and wondered who stayed in this house and why it was so big. He reached the stairs and made his way down to find a living room with a large couch, two chairs, and a nice big flat screen tv that was on.

He saw the back of Will's head and there was also a girl, who had short, black hair and was wearing nothing but black clothing. She was telling Will something, but upon noticing him she stopped talking and stared at him. Will turned and when he landed on Nico, his eyes went wide and he got up quickly and ran over to him and helped him the rest of the way down the stairs and sat him on the couch. Once there he refused to let go of his hand and stared at him as if he was the happiest person in the world.

"You're finally awake." Will said.

"How long was I asleep?" Nico asked.

"Four days."

Nico was astonished at how much the traveling had taken out of him, yet Percy had said that the farther he went the more it would take out of him.

"Where are we?"

"Ohio."

"Why Ohio?"

"Because, she lives her and she's and old friend."

"I'm Thalia Grace." The girl finally said.

"Grace, like Jason Grace?" Nico asked.

"Yeah, I'm his older sister. He never mentioned?"

"No, sorry."

"Don't worry we haven't seen each other in years."

"What happened?" Nico finally asked.

"You guys sure made a mess of New York. The whole sanctum went up and anyone who was inside died. Along with a couple hundred other mortals and now the whole city is on lock down and the country on high alert." Thalia said.

"So, no one got out, not a single person?" Nico asked.

"No, we were lucky your powers stopped the bulk of the explosion. Without it we would've gotten hit with the full blast and would probably be dead as well." Will said.

Nico didn't speak for a minute and looked down at his hands trying to process what he had just been told. Thalia left the room and Will engulfed him in a hug and had no idea he was crying until Will was shushing him and was rubbing his back. Nico let the tears fall and tried to get all the pain he had in him out. After trying to put together a family after losing his first one, they were taken from him as well. Once again there was absolutely nothing he could've done to save them and he had to watch as they were taken.

Even after all his tears were gone, Nico stayed with Will and simply wanted to wish the day away and hoped he could face the troubles tomorrow. However, Nico knew that, that was no way to act and pulled himself together and slowly worked his way out of Will's embrace and looked at him.

"So, what do we do now?" Nico asked.

"For now, we rest and gather ourselves together. You still have a lot to learn and I don't expect you to drop that off now. After that we find others who are willing to fight and we hit back." Will said confidently.

"What do you mean hit back? There are only three of us." Nico asked shocked.

"Thalia's been gathering intel on them for years and she has a few of their locations marked that we could hit and try and gather more intel. It will also be good field experience for you."

"So, that's all we can do? Just hid and hope that they don't find us." Nico said.

"Well there is a long-term plan, Thalia plans to reach out to some friends that she has kept tabs on and hopefully they'll help but other than that, yeah."

"Well, this sucks." Nico said crossing his arms.

"No one ever said that this life was easy. Most mages end up dying before they get out of college, those that form groups survive longer than most but it also paints a target on their back." Will said.

Nico sighed and got up and he went back up to his room to find a few things sitting around the room. A few articles of clothing, his personal textbooks and notebooks, and a picture or two. It wasn't much but he supposed he was lucky to get this much. Thalia had left for the store to compensate for the new guests she had and Nico spent his time looking through everything he had. The pictures were of him and Hazel's family and a rather old one that he had almost forgotten about was his old family photo. He was five when it was taken, and it was from a time he was happy. He had a huge smile and his father had a smile as well, it was one of the few times he had ever smiled.

His mother held him in her lap and Bianca stood in front of their father and Nico brushed his finger over the picture, smiling to himself. How much he wanted to go back to those days and he set the picture down on a dresser and put the small amount of clothes he had away. Will eventually came and got him for dinner and as they sat around the table the conversation turned.

"So, Thalia how many friends can you reach?" Will asked.

"Not many, maybe five or six at most? Some really didn't go into that deep of hiding so it won't be hard to find them. Others, when they went into hiding, are going to be impossible to find. Some have been hiding for over a decade which means it will be hard to find them and even harder to convince them to join us. You need to understand that there are no mage groups left, your gang was the last one and now without them they'll be even more reluctant to come out and fight." Thalia explained.

"Well I suppose that's all we can hope for at this point." Will said.

"Not, saying that we couldn't convince them, but it'll be hard. But you two will need to stay put. Those unwelcome parties are after you unlike anything I've ever seen before. So, if you intend to keep them off your tail I suggest you stay put for a little while."

"You can't expect us to just do nothing, especially now!" Nico defended.

"I'm not saying do nothing, just don't go too far or cause to much havoc. I'll need to be alone to find those in hiding as they don't know you and you'll just gather attention."

"When will you leave?" Will asked.

"Hopefully tomorrow, at the latest." Thalia said.

"So soon?"

"Well, those friends of mine are still buried deep and it will take me a while to find them all, and let alone send them here so we can organize. There are wards around this place which should keep you relatively safe for a while and it'll let you practice your magic if need arises."

"So, just hide here and do nothing?" Nico snapped.

"I never said do nothing, I have a list of places that are close that you and Will could hit while I'm gone. Plus, the farm has a lot of repairs that need to be done and other work that you could do to help this place out. But it's up to you."

"Thalia gave me the run-down of the place and there is a lot we could do to make this place a lot safer. She also has a lot of materials you need to learn that were destroyed in the sanctum. I saw all the animals and we can take care of them and actually keep this place financially sound." Will said.

"Fine." Nico said.

"Just make sure this place is still here when I get back, is all I ask for." Thalia said.

That next morning Thalia left and Nico and Will were on their own for the foreseeable future. Nico was still very weak from the huge jump he made and spent a good amount of time in bed resting. Will was essentially taking care of Nico and the entire farm all by himself and Nico felt extremely guilty because of it. Will insisted that it was all he could do for getting them out of New York and he kept saying that it didn't bother him, but that did little to ease Nico's mind.

Eventually Nico began to clean up the house and as he studied made small repairs to things that he knew how to fix. Three weeks passed before anything interesting happened and what actually did happen was far less exciting than Nico had hoped it would be. It was just a random Wednesday morning when a truck pulled up the driveway and a man got out. He wore jeans and a heavy coat and looked around for a few minutes before Nico approached him.

"Can I help you?" Nico asked.

"Is Thalia around?" the man asked.

"No, she's been gone for a few weeks."

"Oh, well I take in her extra animals for trade in every month and its that time of the month."

"Well, Will has been taking care of the animals, so you'll want to talk to him. He's out in the barn, or at least he should be at this time of day." Nico said.

"Thanks, and you would be?"

"Nico."

"Hermes." He held out his hand.

"Your?" Nico said dumbfounded.

"The one and only, I've kept in contact with Thalia for Zeus' sake. Also, she needed the help and I was more than willing, it helps keep me out of all the horror."

"Are there any other gods or goddesses that visit her on a regular basis?"

Hermes looked thoughtful, "Come to think of it, Artemis visits from time to time and so does Apollo but other than that no."

Nico looked down, exacerbated, and led Hermes to where Will was and let them hash out which animals were going this month. Nico had learned that Thalia kept a lot of animals, not only the common farm animals but she also had a few magical ones. She had a pack of Direwolves, some Cyprus eagles, and other animals Nico had never seen before. Nico went back inside and soon he finished his morning chores and decided to read. He had no idea how long he had been reading for, but Will entered the house and shrugged off his coat.

He sat down next to Nico and closed his eyes and seemed extremely tired. Nico shut his book and leaned up against Will, to at least try and warm him up faster.

"So, I take it Hermes got what he needed." Nico said.

"That and then some." Will said sarcastically.

"Care to explain?"

"Well, he got the allotted animals, but then he started grilling me about you and our personal life and it just was weird. I knew Thalia had some weird friends, but he was just off putting. Anyway, the animals should be good for the next couple of days, so we can spend more time on you and your studies."

Nico groaned at that and simply buried himself further into Will's side. That earned a chuckle from him and an arm came around the hugged him. Nico had a hard time enjoying these tender moments given that this was all caused because all of their friends died. Nico still on occasion had lapses of memories where he saw his friends or him family, only to realize that they were gone and it was all in his head. They stayed like that for a while and Nico soon realized that Will had fallen asleep and in those precious moments Will looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

Nico got up and grabbed a blanket and covered the both of them, as he found his spot leaning on Will. He grabbed his book and decided to keep on reading, learning as much as he could. The past few pages had been about illumination and trying to create handheld fires to light up dark spaces when you had no other option. Nico tried the spell a few times and the flames always ended up a green color and had another worldly glow to it. He supposed it was colored apparent to the person's magical affinity. Will's was always a yellow or gold, Percy's was a blue green color, and on the rare occasion he saw Jason do the spell, his was a sky blue.

Nico extinguished the flames and kept reading for other new spells that he had yet to try. He found other fire related spells and he supposed that it was not the smartest ideas to practice them inside a wooden house. He looked at Will and Will seemed to be smiling at whatever he was dreaming about and that eased Nico's mind that Will could still enjoy his dreams. Nico woke up half the time haunted by the phantoms of his friends and loved ones. Other times he never even remembered what the dream was about, only that it was terrifying and that he woke up in a cold sweat.

Nico shook those thoughts from his head, and continued on reading. Before long, his eyes grew heavy and his arm dipped and he had fallen asleep. He found himself in the sanctum with his friends, and even his family. Bianca looked just as she had the last time Nico had seen her, and his mother was laughing at whatever his father had just said. Percy and Annabeth seemed to be enjoying themselves and for once Nico allowed himself to smile.

That's when things started to turn, and he saw his friends turn into ash and blow away. Then his father faded away and disappear, and his mother became a bloody mess before rotting into a pile of bones. That's when his sister turned on him with a pale face and a ruined body, just like he remembered after the crash and she looked at him with a sad face.

"Bianca…?" he whispered.

"Why didn't you save us?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You could have saved us, why didn't you?"

"I tired, I just didn't…"

"Why didn't you save us Nico? Nico? Nico?"

Her voice faded and Nico slowly opened his eyes to find Will looking at him and gently shaking him. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up and he was still on the couch where he had fallen asleep with his book on the floor in front of him. Will looked extremely concerned and Nico was worried that once again he was talking in his sleep.

"Will?" Nico asked quietly.

"You were fidgeting and whispering in your sleep, I got worried." Will said.

"Just a nightmare." Nico waved Will off.

"Nico, a nightmare isn't nothing." Will implored.

"It's nothing new, I've had nightmares ever since I lost a good portion of my family. I guess they've gotten worse after what happened in New York."

"I can always stay with you at night if that'll make you more comfortable."

Will's cheeks grew slightly pink, and he looked down. Nico wondered if that would help him at all considering whenever he got them, he simply went outside for a walk and waited until he got tired enough, or the sun came up. Nico shook his head still wanting to keep some privacy to himself, even though he thought it extremely sweet of Will to offer.

"Alright, but if things get worse let me know. Were here for each other and I care about you."

"I know, its just hard for me to lower my privacy so much, and I swear I'll let you know if anything gets worse." Nico said.

Will nodded and then got up and went into the kitchen and Nico picked up his book and turned back to the page that he had left on. Nico looked over at the clock and wondered just how long he had been asleep. The sun was setting outside and Nico got up and went into the kitchen.

"How long was I asleep?" Nico asked.

"A couple hours, I woke up about half an hour ago and saw you sleeping and I didn't want to wake you because you seemed really tired these past few days." Will said.

"Oh, well that's nice of you." Nico looked down.

"No problem."

With that the doorbell rang and Nico sighed, slightly irritated by the fact that there moment was ruined. He opened the door and to his surprise found a very disheveled and torn up Dakota.

"Dakota?! What are you doing here?!" Nico screamed.

"I'm so glad I found you." He said.

"Will! Get to the door now!" Nico yelled.

Will came running and his eyes widened and he nearly shoved Nico aside to help Dakota inside. Nico shut the door behind them and followed them to the couch where Will laid him down and almost instantly started looking him over.

"Dakota, how did you find us?" Nico asked.

"It wasn't easy. I spent half the time fighting off monsters on my tail and the other trying to find you. I soon got the message from Thalia to come here where you were." He explained.

"Wait, what message?"

"It wasn't easy to find and I nearly missed it, but Thaila is amazing at sending out magical disturbances that could mean almost anything. Luckily, when she visited L.A. a few years ago she let me know how to find them and then figure them out. It then took me another two days to actually figure out where you were and another week to get here."

"Well, its great to see you." Nico said.

"You sure are beat up." Will said.

"I told you half the time I was fighting off monsters. I was never a great healer so, I just did the best that I could so I wouldn't die or fall apart."

"Well, you'll need a lot of rest after I heal you up but were going to need to know how you survived, and if anybody else did." Will said.

"I left an hour before everyone else got there, and when I was making my way back the building went up. I ran there only to find dozens of monsters hanging around and so I ran trying to find a safe house. I went to Percy's, Jason's, and your house trying to find you guys. They followed me and unfortunately Percy's mom tried to protect me and then took her. I don't think anybody made it out."

Nico looked to Will and nodded and then Will started his healing spells and chanted quietly. Nico went back to the kitchen and saw that Will had started to make dinner and Nico continued and all the while thought. He knew that most of them probably died in the blast but now he worried that his friends were not the only target. He knew that they had several agents in the school that they went to and most likely their absence was noticed at this point.

Nico now worried about his adopted mother and all the other parents he got to meet over the time that he had known his friends. It wasn't a long time and he only met the parents on rare occasions, but he still knew how much they impacted him. The fact that Percy's mother was taken and the others were under threat of being taken or killed as well, worried him to no end. Will came into the kitchen and simply hugged him from behind as he continued to make dinner and only now and then offered advice on what to do.

"How's Dakota?" Nico finally asked.

"He's fine, just sleeping. He was really beat up and it took a lot to heal him. I just hope he has more to offer than what he just told us." Will said.

Will moved his head to Nico's shoulder and hugged him just a little bit tighter which made him have to stop and move his hand to Will's arms. Nico knew that Will was much closer to the others than Nico ever was and he was surprised that he was holding up so well. Dakota must've finally put the final nail in the coffin that was Will's hope that they had survived. He hoped Will could pull through alright and he guessed that he would need to stand by Will even more so now than at any time before.

"Hey, do want to spend the night with me tonight?" Nico asked softly.

Will shifted slightly, "If you're alright with it, I wouldn't mind."

Nico turned around the faced Will and looked him in the eyes, and he could see the pain in them.

"Will, are you sure you're ok?" Nico asked.

"No."

Nico hugged him and Will held onto him like his life depended on it. He felt small shakes and he soon realized that Will was crying, he had never seen Will so down on himself and Nico couldn't help but feel terrible that he had not idea Will felt this way. He simply let Will cry himself out and then set him down in the living room, where he found Dakota asleep and went back to finish dinner. Once done he brought Will the food and they ate in relative silence, trying not to wake Dakota up and another because there was simply nothing to say after all the emotions that had been brought out today.

That night they had managed to get Dakota to sleep in Will's room while Will slept with Nico that night. For once Nico didn't have nightmares, now whether that was from the fact that he was exhausted or that Will was with him, he didn't know. For the next week Nico made a huge effort to help Will, no matter how much he protested, and tried to get Will to open up further but being shut down every time.

He started to understand how infuriating it must have been for anyone who tried to get him to open up about his feelings. As time passed Nico grew increasingly concerned about Will, as he became more irritable, and angry. It eventually came to a head when Nico accidentally knocked a shovel over in the barn and Will snapped at him for spooking the animals and that's when Nico decided that being silent wasn't going to work.

"Will, you need to stop and tell me what's wrong." Nico said.

"I've already told you that nothing is wrong!" Will yelled back.

Nico put up a shield before Will could leave the barn and when he met the barrier, Will turned and looked absolutely steaming. Nico simply crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow waiting for Will to start.

"Nico, let me out." Will growled.

"No, not until you tell me what's wrong so I can help."

"Nothing's wrong!"

Will pulled his bow and knocked and arrow and Nico sighed.

"Will do you honestly think you can overpower me, when I can detain a god if I wanted to?"

"I don't care."

"Will you're being stupid. Seriously, I understand what it means to lose people you care about, but being like this is just self-destructive. I was lucky enough to have Hazel find me in time before I had gone to far and there was nothing anyone could do to save me."

Will dropped his arms and the bow disappeared, he looked utterly defeated and at a loss for what to do. Nico went to him and hugged him tightly without saying a word. He understood that this situation did not need any words spoken and that Will just needed to grieve. He had known all of them much longer than Nico ever did, hell, he even grew up with some of them. Nico understood all the pain that Will was feeling and that bottling it up was only self-destructive, and Nico knew how destructive it could be.

"C'mon, we need to get inside." Nico said.

Will nodded silently and Nico took his hand and lead him back to the house and found Dakota, awake and watching T.V. It was mostly the normal news cycle, with a focus on the attack in New York, but now that a few weeks had passed since then, it was starting to faze out. Nico thought of what they could do, other than sit here and let whoever was behind all this work unhindered. That's when he thought of what Thalia had told them. He turned off the T.V., to the compliant of Dakota and sat Will down on the couch.

"I know what we can do. Rather than simply sit here and wait for something else to happen or for Thalia to come back we can take the initiative and hit them back." Nico said.

"How exactly would you do that? Dozens of other mages have tried to fight them and have never won, why would we be different?" Dakota asked.

"Because they aren't expecting resistance anymore. New York must've given them a huge amount of arrogance and will never expect any attacks. So, we find big depots or bases of theirs and trash them. We can start small and work our way up, so we don't draw too much attention at first."

"Ok, that might work, but theirs only three of us and we have no idea where they are."

"True, but Thalia will be sending others our way, and we have a few extremely angry gods that just lost children that I bet would know a thing or two. We can call in favors and start to unravel their operations."

"Won't work." Will said.

"What?" Nico asked.

"Won't work, you don't realize it but the sanctum was operating under the same plan. We hit a base maybe once a month and it still didn't stop them."

"What were the bases you usually hit?" Dakota asked.

"Mostly troop gatherings, a few weapons, but not much else."

"See, that's where you guys failed. Sure, you can kill troops and destroy weapons all the live long day, but until you take out the factories that make the weapons, or training grounds that train the troops you'll never take them down. Its total war, they hit whenever and wherever they could and you didn't that's why you lost." Dakota said.

"Ok, so we find factories and barracks and take them down, without means of production they will slowly grind to a halt."

"Not exactly, once those are taken down you need to prevent them from being rebuilt. Tear apart the network, communications and start taking down high-ranking officers and that's how a country collapses."

"How, do you know all this?" Will asked.

"Study military tactics for years."

"So, first it's the means of production, then logistics, then command, and that leads to?"

"Victory."

 **Sorry about the long wait, I forgot that I almost had this chapter finished and finally got around to it. Its the start of essentially Act 2, and I'm not sure how many chapters will be in this part, but it will be more exciting with more fights and action, but don't expect everything to go perfectly. I've given several warnings and I hope you heed them. Enjoy and review. -starwarswiz**


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